Mission
Fashion has become increasingly democratized, globalized, and accessible and fashion consumers represent a wider diversity of thought, experience, and opinion. As a result, neglecting to consider and encourage diverse points of view during the product design process can lead to brands receiving negative press, experiencing brand boycotts, but even more deeply, offending their customers with insensitive designs and marketing campaigns. In fact, in 2018 a luxury fashion brand’s offensive advertisement led a consultancy to estimate that their brand value would decrease by 20%.
Promoting inclusion in the design process is not about stifling creativity, but about knowing, with confidence, when a creative idea may do more harm than good. It demands a higher sense of responsibility, but ultimately fosters ethical design and an essential understanding of “the role that race [or other attributes] plays in perceptions of identity, beauty and intrinsic human value.” It allows you to better understand your market, as well as the opportunity markets, and maintain your positive brand image.
Equitably Designed is a full service hub that empowers businesses to design products and deliver services with equity at the center of all that they create. By bringing together subject matter experts from fashion, technology, product inclusion, innovation and consumer experience, our team has honed a unique set of concrete and actionable interventions to manifest powerful change and positive growth for your business. Visit our Services page to see the available packages or Contact Us directly to discuss a custom offering.
The Facts
Only 14% of major fashion brands have a female leader
100% of women surveyed see gender equality as an issue in fashion, while less than 50% of men do
66% of LGBTQ+ individuals say that they don’t “see [their] lifestyle represented in marketing” despite commanding $1 trillion in buying power (forbes.com)
The total after-tax disposable income for working-age people with disabilities is about $490 billion, which is similar to that of other significant market segments, such as African Americans ($501 billion) and Hispanics ($582 billion) (air.org)
A full 67% of adult American women wear a size 14 or larger and Plus-sized shoppers represent $20 billion worth of buying power as of 2018 (media.thinknum.com)