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To fill the gaps in their diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts — which hit a peak in 2020 but have since begun to wane — brands are hiring external consultants to advise best practice around everything from the cultural significance of design decisions to recruitment policies, to initiatives that provide opportunities for underrepresented groups. Several startups have sprung up to fill this need. However, the efficacy of these partnerships, and how much work a third party can accomplish, remains to be seen. Can lasting change be forged via an outsider?
“2023 is a pivotal year for the conversation on DE&I in the fashion industry. Particularly when we look at what’s happening economically, there are brands that are scaling back on their DE&I initiatives,” says Daniel Peters, founder of London-based consultancy Fashion Minority Report, founded in 2020, which has worked with Farfetch and Asos.
Some fashion brands have appointed chief diversity and inclusion officers in the past two years to lead DE&I efforts. Companies who don’t have someone in this role often leave DE&I to the HR or people teams. DE&I is still too often viewed through a purpose-driven lens — a business value rather than a business function. However, without creating tangible strategies for DE&I to become baked into every part of the business, progress ends up stalling.
A 2022 report from Culture Amp shows that 86 per cent of organisations believe DE&I is valuable but only 27 per cent know how to measure the effectiveness of their DE&I initiatives. External consultancies are popping up with the aim of pushing forward genuine action: among them, Fashion Minority Report encourages brands to partner on its emerging talent development programmes and create opportunities for underrepresented groups; Artis Solomon (founded in 2021) uses fashion history and cultural context to evaluate brands’ corporate and design strategies; and Maestra (founded in 2019) aims to develop long-term initiatives for brands that benefit the business as much as they do underrepresented communities.
Peters says that the stagnation in DE&I hasn’t negatively impacted his business — if anything, the consultancy is signing more clients. “Some brands feel as if they’ve hit a wall in terms of what they can do internally, so they’re now starting to seek counsel from organisations such as ours,” he explains. Fashion Minority Report’s revenue was between £55,000 and £60,000 in its first year of business, and in its second full year has reached above £220,000 with five times more clients.
