The Black in Fashion Council (BIFC) was founded by Teen Vogue’s editor in chief Lindsay Peoples Wagner and veteran PR expert Sandrine Charles to serve as an advisory board for companies who are committed to enacting real, lasting change.
Today, BIFC released a list which shares the first 38 companies that have signed up to participate. The list includes heavyweights in the fashion and beauty space, as well as media giants such as Condé Nast.
The Council aims to hold brands and companies accountable when it comes to making internal and external changes around diversity and inclusion.
In an official statement, the Council explained: “Brands have pledged a commitment to work with the Black in Fashion Council for the next three years and work with the Human Rights Campaign to put policies into practice further to demonstrate their commitment to Black employees at all levels.”
“Executive board members will be having conversations with industry stakeholders starting in August 2020 to allow brands to fully understand the complex ways in which we all need to commit to making inclusivity the lens in which we see everything, and have the opportunity to rise to the occasion of making changes over the next three years as we know this is a process that takes time. The BIFC will release generalized cumulative results in the fall of 2021, giving insight into the progress that the industry has seen.”
The list of brands is as follows: Athleta, Banana Republic, BFA, Birchbox, Brandon Maxwell, Browns, CAA, Calvin Klein, Cartier North America, Condé Nast, Depop, DNA Model Management, Everlane, Fashionista, Farfetch, Fred Segal, Gap, Glossier, Heroes Model Management, Hill City, Hunt & Gather, Intermix, Janie and Jack, Jeffries Group, L’Oréal, Man Repeller, Moda Operandi, Myra Swim, Old Navy, Prabal Gurung, PVH Corp., Stadium Goods, Tamara Mellon, Tiffany & Co., The Knot Worldwide, The RealReal, Tommy Hilfiger, and Universal Standard.
The coalition is backed by board members including GQ Deputy Fashion Director Nikki Ogunnaike, Vice President of Brand and Culture Engagement at Gucci Antoine Phillips, KCD Director Tenique Bernard, IMG agent Ethan Miller, Cosmopolitan Beauty Director Julee Wilson, and Saks Fifth Avenue Vice President Jamillah Davis Hernandez.
Every year, starting in June 2021, participating companies will receive an ‘equality index’ score, which will be published in an annual report.
The BIFC is also accepting membership applications from creatives (priced at $50 for assistant level and $100 for senior membership) in order to grant those in the industry access to their programming and subcommittees.
“This is about accountability culture, not cancel culture,” Peoples Wagner has said. “We want to give industry stakeholders the chance to have conversations, to be given the tools and resources to make the changes that need to occur instead of shaming them into it.”
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