The Italian National Fashion Chamber is upholding a diversity agenda among Milan’s major fashion brands, considering a year after several top Italian brands faced criticism for designs and remarks seen as culturally and racially insensitive. Its manifesto backed by major Italian fashion brands aims to increase racial and gender diversity in key roles in Milan's fashion houses, which fashion chamber president Carlo Capasa acknowledged was lagging in a recent interview with The Associated Press ahead of Milan Fashion Week.
Capasa said the Milan fashion world must work harder to attract people of colour. “If global companies want to represent the world they are targeting, they must welcome diversity and look beyond their own borders,’’ he said, citing the relative homogeneity of Italian society. Milan has lagged the other main fashion cities of Paris, New York and London in racial diversity on the runway, according to season diversity reporting by the Fashion Spot. Capasa said the stories that fashion houses want to tell are often linked to their Italian roots, and that runway choice is linked to model agencies' offerings since not all models come to Milan.
While many Milan fashion houses take their creative direction from women including Miuccia Prada, Donatella Versace, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Angela Missoni and more women than men work in the fashion industry, Capasa said efforts are needed to get more women into decision-making roles. ‘’If we look at the boards, at the CEOs, at other key roles, there might be an advantage for men,’’ Capasa said. ‘’But we don’t want to introduce quotas obligating companies to promote women. We want to create the conditions so that women can have the same chances.’’
The chamber’s manifesto does not include hard commitments. Instead, it presents concepts that ‘’will serve as a model for radical reform in terms of diversity and inclusion.’’ They were adopted by the chamber’s more than 100 members, which include most major Milan fashion houses with the notable exception of Dolce&Gabbana, and will be monitored every year for progress.
