Fashion Is More Inclusive, But Still Needs Some Work
The fashion industry is shifting to become a more inclusive place. A company that is at the forefront of this change is The Phluid Project. Founder Robert Smith is launching a job portal to help members of the LGBTQ+ community to find safe spaces to work. They do this by creating a workshop that helps with resume writing, interview prep, and how to dress professionally: “People send us multiple resumes every day because we’re seen as a safe space. I thought there are very few spaces to send them. I thought, what if I create a safe space to send them?” said Smith.
One of the employees at The Phluid Project enjoys that their work environment is a safe space. “Everyone here is so accepting of who I am. I don’t have to pretend to be who I am and I think we’re showcasing that to the world,” said Arron Nie, who identifies as non-binary.
The reason safe work environments are important is because the statistics of LGBTQ+ members losing jobs or not getting promotions based on their sexual preferences or gender identity are devastating. According to WWD, “27 percent of transgender people were not hired, were fired or not promoted due to their gender identity or expression, and 80 percent of trans and non-binary people experience job harassment or mistreatment on the job.” Companies are changing, though. L’Oréal had recently changed their maternity leave for non-birthing parents from two weeks to six weeks, which is some kind of an improvement. Family dynamics are changing; more same sex couple are getting married and want to have children. And, if a gay couple decides to adopt a baby, two weeks isn’t enough to help themselves acclimate to family life. There are even a few fashion companies that are trying to add transgender healthcare into their current healthcare packages.
Besides who these companies are hiring, it’s also important how these companies represent themselves to the public with their store layout and advertisements. Smith mentioned during the WWD Culture Conference that genderless clothing is the future and the best way for stores to implement that is through their accessories section. He questioned why stores had separate men’s and women’s accessory sections in the first place, since for the most part, they’re interchangeable between genders. Smith did say that shoes may be the hardest to do this with because of their sizing. The Phulid Project doesn’t have a separate section for men’s or for women’s, everything is placed together which allows the consumer to shop freely. The reason he had done this was because there was time when he went shopping and he would browse the women’s section. He said workers would approach him to inform him that he’s shopping in the women’s section, and try to steer him back into the men’s, even though he was fully aware and did it intentionally. We should have the freedom to choose where we want to shop and not to adjust to societies predetermined labels of what’s acceptable for your gender. “I think one of the things we believe here at Phluid is that clothing has no gender, which is a fact, and gender is something we defined for ourselves. We shouldn’t be the only gender-free store in the world. We should be moving towards this direction and I think [fashion] is,” said Arron Nie.
Representation of the LGBTQ+ community is also essential, whether that be in runway shows or editorial campaigns. Marco Marco’s Spring 2019 was a show New York City will never forget. The reason being is that all the models identified as transgender. Marco Morante, the designer, told Cosmopolitan, "This was an opportunity for their presence to be undeniable and reinforce that trans is beautiful.” There are also transgender models that are booking high fashion runway shows, such as Teddy Quinlivan. She’s done fashion campaigns and runway shows for Monse, Haider Ackermann, Alexandre Vauthier, and Ludovic de Saint Sernin. For a while she worked in the modeling industry without anyone knowing that she was a transgender woman, but in 2017 she came out to CNN-style. And ever since she’s used her platform to advocate for the transgender community. Macy’s created a wedding advertisement with same-sex couples, which may have received some backlash from conservative people, but Shawn Outler, Chief Diversity Officer of Macy’s, said she knew it was the right thing to do and didn’t care about the negative comments against it. But there’s still room to grow, like in any industry.
During the WWD Culture Conference, pinkwashing was discussed. Pinkwashing is when you use the topic of LGBTQ+ rights for marketing reasons in order to gain favor in that community and appear to be progressive. Most brands only market to members of the LGBTQ+ community during pride month, which is transparent to consumers. “I think a lot of people are using androgyny as a trend. And so, there’s a lot of brands that are of course putting it on their runway but when you go into the store everything’s divided,” said Naila Sophia, a Phluid Project employee. There are eleven other months where some companies don’t make campaigns which have LGBTQ+ representation and it shows that they don’t actually care about the community. Some brands just add a rainbow in the corner of their ad and believe that’s all the contribution that needs to be done. It would be a better and bigger contribution if those companies were to donate to charities that work with the LGBTQ+ community. Representation is very important, but there are right and wrong ways to do it, and the fashion industry needs to work on this.
Overall, there have been significant changes in the fashion industry and it is becoming a more inclusive place. Companies need to break more boundaries just like The Phluid Project is successfully doing. Including more LGBTQ+ members in the work place, gender-neutral floor set-ups, having a diverse range of models in advertisements and runway shows, and donating to important charities that help the community are good places for brands to start their journey towards an inclusive industry.