Calling Out Fashion's Diversity Problem Isn't Enough
Another day, another "Why are white creative directors still white?" article
Calling out fashion’s diversity problem has become media’s favorite new genre. Take this brief chronological survey:
New York Times: Fashion’s Blind Spot (2013)
The Guardian: Why black models are rarely in fashion (2014)
E! News: Why Is New York Fashion Week Still So White? The Problem of Sameness on the Runway (2015)
The Cut: Here’s a Way to Solve Fashion’s Race Problem (2016)
Business of Fashion: Fashion Has a Diversity Problem on the Business Side, Too (2018)
CNN: Fashion gaffes are a reflection of the industry’s diversity problem (2019)
The Atlantic: Fashion’s Racism and Classism Are Finally Out of Style (2020)
New York Times: The Fashion World Promised More Diversity. Here’s What We Found.(2021)
Vogue Business: Why are so many creative directors white men? (2023)
Vogue Business: Why are so many creative directors still white men? (2025)
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Not only do these stories continue to be told by white writers, but they have become a broken record, reintroducing the same issue with fresh news pegs and offering little in terms of tangible next steps. What was once considered informative journalism has turned performative.
What these articles don’t make explicitly clear is that the struggle for hiring non-white creative directors implies an attack not only on racial discrimination but a