Feb
If Miranda Priestly Addressed Diversity in the Fashion Industry
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Twice per year, New York Fashion Week (#NYFW), kicks off dozens of shows and a series of fashion weeks to follow in Milan, London, and Paris. And like the first buds of Spring’s arrival come the perennial op-eds about diversity in the fashion industry.
One only needs to do a simple Google search of “diversity in fashion” to find this, this, and this.
While these factors matter, what’s behind the scenes could give us a fuller picture about what diversity looks like in the industry.
First it’s important to understand the fashion industry is more than models and designers. Many parts make up the big machine including buyers, stylists, photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists, set designers, media, PR and marketing coordinators, journalists, editors, textile specialists. There are company website designers and developers; retail professionals, sales managers, and sales associates.
Many young students of color apply to fashion and design school programs, hoping to gain entry. Recently, Business of Fashion released it’s Global Fashion School Rankings. This information is useful, in that it provides insight into what students most look for when selecting a school. But those prospective students should check one other priority before they select a fashion school: graduation rates.
Is Fashion Education Selling a False Dream?
Take Pratt Institute— a fashion and design school a mere Brooklyn Bridge away from #NYFW — has an overall graduation rate of 63%, and an average graduation rate for students of color at 67% (African American 65%, Asian 70%, Hispanic 68%). Their cohort default rate is 6.6%. Those stats put Pratt’s graduation rates far above the national average of 50% and student loan default rates very low. These numbers do tell us that schools are graduating fashion students, and the next textile designer or brand developer is out there (presumably) ready to werq. So where are they working?
Gainful Employment Rule, and What it Means to the Fashion Industry
We hear anecdotal stories of fashion school grads waiting tables or folding sweaters at Banana Republic. But while one of these jobs is related to the industry, does it count as “gainfully employed” in the fashion industry?
What counts? Is it when you land your first gig styling a photo shoot? But what happens when you’re there? Are you picking out garments, or just organizing the hangers? So far, this kind of information is not publicly available. But it matters.
In short, the purpose of the gainful employment rule is to ensure that schools provide information such as former student earnings, accumulated debt, and their success after graduating.
The Business of Fashion, tells us the fashion industry is a global business, with the power to maintain the economic stability of major cities like New York and London. The great news is that a stronger gainful employment rule is still in place. It not only assures students that when they graduate from college, they will have the skills to thrive in their field of study. More can know that they are actually contributing to the economic viability of an industry they deeply care about. But I also hope that these brilliant people —particularly the ones of color — can add a fuller, more diverse picture of what the fashion industry looks like.
