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Lack of data continues to hold back diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) progress across the global fashion industry. In the UK, it’s hoped a new nationwide census will provide a solution.
London Fashion Week organiser the British Fashion Council (BFC) has teamed up with non-profit The Outsiders Perspective and consultancy Fashion Minority Report — both of which aim to increase diversity in the industry — to launch ‘The Fashion DEI Census’. From today, through a link accessed via the BFC’s website and sent to brands and key industry figureheads, the voluntary census will measure demographics across all job roles, functions and levels of seniority, from retail workers and freelance stylists to luxury executives. The survey closes on 18 September.
“The last few years have been a wake-up call that we have the power to change the landscape rather than accept the status quo, and while many organisations have taken the time to reflect, creating an inclusive culture and improving workforce DE&I has not been high enough on the industry’s agenda,” says Caroline Rush, chief executive of the BFC. “This census is an urgent plea for the whole industry to stand for progress.”
The survey will include questions on age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and social mobility, as well as evaluating feelings of belonging and how individuals feel their company is progressing in DE&I. It is not just aimed at minority groups; everyone working in the UK fashion industry is encouraged to take part, and all answers will remain anonymous. The hope is to engage the whole industry and promote allyship regarding better representation.
While experts agree that data needs to be tracked as a first step to understanding the problems with representation and creating solutions, data laws across certain markets make it hard to gather information. In the US, data regulations are less restrictive, but in France, for instance, it is illegal to collect data on religion, race and ethnicity. In the UK, data regulations prevent companies from gathering such information unless it is given voluntarily.
“There have been small nuggets of data captured here and there [on diversity in British fashion], but nothing on an industry-wide level,” says Jamie Gill, founder of The Outsiders Perspective — which helps people from underrepresented backgrounds working outside the industry access networking and employment opportunities in fashion — and chair of the BFC’s diversity and inclusion committee. “We want to take stock of where we are as an industry and analyse that against other existing data like the UK census, London data or data from other industries.”
The data will feed into a wider review of the state of DE&I in the UK fashion industry, to be published later this year, which will outline what else is needed for measurable progress. “We want to point to what best practice looks like and say what our recommendations for positive change and business growth are [based on the data],” says Gill.
“I’m keen to see how people feel about how [DE&I] is progressing within their own companies,” adds Daniel Peters, founder of Fashion Minority Report. “While we won’t be looking at individual companies [because the survey is anonymous], it will be interesting to look at things regionally and understand where people feel changes can be made.”
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Peters has sat on the BFC’s diversity and inclusion committee since its inception in 2020, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests (Gill became chair in 2022). “We came together so it’s not positioned as one organisation [doing the research] for their own gain,” says Peters. “It’s an opportunity to use our collective voices to create the change we want to see.”
Given certain groups may be more sceptical about providing personal information, Peters says he worked to ensure the survey process and end report are as accessible as possible. “We want the report to feel unique, but what’s key for me is that it’s conversational and doesn’t feel like an instructional guide or heavy whitepaper,” he says. “If we’re going to ask people of all roles and seniorities for their data, we want participants to be able to pick up the report and understand what we’ve been doing and what the impact is hopefully going to be.”
For Gill, understanding the data is a direct correlation to positioning DE&I as a business imperative. “As an industry we’re not very data-rooted, we’re a creative industry but fashion and luxury are a business with big organisations and we’re a massive contributor to the economy. We have real power to change and be a leader, but how can we do that if we don’t know the basics [of who we are]?” he says. “We understand data is key from the perspective of sell-through or to read business performance, yet we don’t know our people. This is about everybody, not just minority groups.”
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