BLOG 1: POWER (Diversity & Social Responsibility)
BLOG 1: POWER
Following the initial two weeks of our Better Lives project, I attended a variety of lectures that focused on diversity, sustainability and social responsibility within the fashion industry, whilst covering a range of different topics within these themes.
Reflecting on the lectures I attended, the one that influenced me majorly was entitled, ‘Power’, led by Julia Crew. Within this lecture, Crew covered a selection of thematic sub-topics, discussing the relationship between power and fashion, money, media, the consumer, protest and ‘you’. By covering such a broad subject with such intricate discussion, I found that this lecture really enlightened my way of thinking when it comes to the question of, ‘who holds the power?’ within the fashion industry.
In regard to the Better Lives themes, I found that this lecture reflected ideals of diversity within the fashion industry, as it addressed the concept of the fashion chain and who holds the top spots. Crew displayed a slide showing the top eight European stakeholders, which showed that Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, based in France, owning the high-fashion brand, Louis Vuitton, had a net worth of $66.7 billion (Warren, 2019).Alongside Arnault were the co-owners of the fellow high-fashion brand, Chanel, whose net worth sits at $26.1 billion, and the CEO of Deichmann, whose net worth sits at $9.2 million. Overall, amongst the eight companies, the CEOs obtain a combined net worth from $9.2 billion to $66.7 billion (Warren, 2019). In addition to this, it is interesting to note that the eight topmost successful European stakeholders are all of white ethnicity and are all male. This data shows that within the fashion chain, in which consists of arguably the most powerful people in the industry with regard to finance, there is a huge lack of diversity.
In addition, it was shown in an Oxfam report published in 2018, “it takes just four days for a CEO from one of the top five global fashion brands to earn what a fast-fashion garment worker in Bangladesh will earn in their lifetime.” (Oxfam, ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’, 2018). Whilst this statistic shows the level of power that these CEOs hold over the fashion industry, it also raises the issue of inequality amongst roles in the industry too, linking to the Better Lives theme of social responsibility.
Within this lecture, Crew also discussed how power intertwines with us as the consumer. It was argued in an interview for ‘Vestoj’, by Laura Gardner, that “The consumer also has substantial power: the power of where and how we spend our money. This power can be positive, if handled correctly.” (Gardner et al., 2015). In regard to the Better Lives theme of social responsibility, and tackling the inequality seen within the fashion hierarchy, I believe that the power lies within the consumer. As consumers, where we shop, makes a difference as to what brands become successful. Therefore, if we choose to shop at companies which source sustainably and treat employees fairly, such as labour workers, supplying them with the fundamental human right of a living wage, then through the use of support, we are the ones striving for this change to be made,
CITATIONS:
Warren, K. (2019). The 15 richest people in the fashion industry, ranked. [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-richest-fashion-designers-and-brand-moguls-in-the-world-2017-9?r=UK&IR=T#7-heinrich-deichmann-106-billion-19 [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].
‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’. (2018). [online] Oxfam. Available at: https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-percent-bagged-82-percent-wealth-created-last-year-poorest-half-humanity [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].
Gardner, L., Gardner, L., Akbari, A., Cronberg, A. and Richardson, D., 2015. The Best For The Most For The Least | Vestoj. [online] Vestoj.com. Available at: <http://vestoj.com/the-best-for-the-most-for-the-least/> [Accessed 10 March 2020].