The path to the summit is still paved with so many challenges that many women give up, move on or start their own businesses.
Women may be striding into the C-suites, executive committees and boardrooms of the big luxury groups but moving into that other C-suite, as creative director of a multibillion-euro or -dollar fashion house, is proving trickier.
At Compagnie Financière Richemont, 57 percent of the workforce and 40 percent of the senior executive committee are women. The company said it promotes “equal opportunities for women and men across all levels of our organization.”In October, Kering replaced Sarah Burton, Alexander McQueen’s longtime creative director and the group’s only female creative leading a fashion house, with
Vanessa Belleau, the founder of High Fifteen who works with companies across different industries, offering strategic consultancy on diversity and leadership topics, said it’s crucial to look at the bigger picture. Despite companies’ moves to build a more diverse workforce, many of the top creative jobs remain out of women’s reach, and they’re still finding it difficult to break through the toile ceiling.
“Immediately, if you are a woman, they think that you have to create a dress for yourself, or you are a better creative only because you know what it means to have a female body. It’s full, full, full of stereotypical ideas. It’s very hard and honestly, it doesn’t come only from men. Women, too, create their limits because a lot of women believe in it, too,” she added.
Traditionally, the management has been men, she said, so it’s no surprise the creative side is dominated by men, too, as they are the ones doing the hiring. Cormio, who’s in her early 30s, is also wise to the ingrained biases against women in the industry, another reason for choosing to be her own boss. “What’s viewed as a strength in a man is viewed as a defect in a woman,” she said, adding that “it’s easier to project genius on a man. It makes people feel good.
I think women, not just in the fashion industry but in society in general, are still facing the complex ripple down effects of patriarchal models.”According to Belleau, those doing the hiring think, consciously or subconsciously: “‘I understand the codes of success, and success is defined by a certain kind of person. I want to conform to the way they do things, without thinking about the repercussions of such behavior.
She suggested the fashion industry follows the lead of finance in addressing that imbalance. “I think that it has to be a conscious decision. If a female creative director leaves a great job, there should be an effort there to really say, ‘OK, we need to replace this person with another female,’” she argued.
“In some countries, the impulse has come from the government, in others, from society, and companies reacted by consciously deciding to put more women in the room. In the beginning, it was a forced process, and now it has become par for the course. I think the design studio is so much more organic and emotional that it’s happening less naturally,” Vigneron said.Even when women designers are delivering, they still run up against bias and stereotyping.
“Just because we present one idea doesn’t mean we can’t do the other idea. You can make an amazing statement piece, but ultimately not a lot of people wear it. And that’s the real dichotomy for me. are just overlooked because they don’t seem powerful, interesting or directional enough — but they can be. There’s just more of a subtlety to them,” she said.
“You get this sort of break around the early 30s, when women go off and have a family, or take time off so they can be slightly more flexible. I have always supported flexible working, and certainly during my years, particularly at Chloé and Givenchy. I wanted to make it work,” Waight Keller said. “I also feel fortunate that at Joseph we have a predominantly female leadership team, so I’m surrounded by strong, capable women,” she added.“We support each other. We work together as a team on household tasks, child care and in our professional roles. We draw on each other’s different strengths in dividing the professional tasks as opposed to gender bias.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Why A Few Bad Quarters Won’t Spell Doom For The Electric Car RevolutionDon’t believe the hype. This is a test of endurance for automakers, not EVs themselves.
Consulte Mais informação »
Why A Few Bad Quarters Won’t Spell Doom For The Electric Car RevolutionDon’t believe the hype. This is a test of endurance for automakers, not EVs themselves.
Consulte Mais informação »
Tesla’s stock dropped 5% today, here’s whyThere are a few reasons why the electric vehicle maker's stock tumbled.
Consulte Mais informação »
Why Would Workers Return to a Former Employer?Psychological reasons why people return to previous employers (and why they leave in the first place).
Consulte Mais informação »
ECB’s Kazimir: We will have to stay at the peak for the next few quartersEuropean Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Peter Kazimir said on Monday, “we will have to stay at the peak for the next few quarters, bets o
Consulte Mais informação »
GBP/JPY recovers a few pips from multi-week low, down a little above 181.00 markThe GBP/JPY cross remains under some selling pressure for the second successive day on Monday and drops to over a three-week low, around the 180.75 re
Consulte Mais informação »