Instagram live event with The Fashion BleuPrint and Fashion Designer JAD.
Following my question which is “How can we raise awareness about D&I among creatives in the fashion industry in the U.K“, I have therefore contacted a fashion consultancy company in the UK called The Fashion BleuPrint which helps young creatives in the UK establish their businesses and organized a social media event with JAD, a Fashion Designer from London to discuss this matter. Organising a social media event I believe is the best way to reach as many people as possible with the least limitations in terms of availability, time, and money. The target group related to my questions are young and creative individuals in the U.K and therefore the best way to reach young creatives is online.
The Instagram event has been Live for the duration of 44min and has obtained 230 participants and 33 likes.
“THIS IS A VALID POINT, OBSERVATION, AND A REALITY. I USE THE ANALOGY OF A PLANT WHERE A BUSINESS WANTS TO SHOW MORE THEIR “FRUITS THAN THEIR ROOTS”. WITH THIS I MEAN THAT COMPANIES WANT TO SHOW YOU THE POSITIVE SIDE, NICE WORDS SUCH AS INCLUSION, ANTI-RACISM, AND THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE REALITY AS THE ROOTS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT AS THE FRUITS.
I ALSO THINK THAT MARKETING IS A VERY POWERFUL SIDE OF THE BUSINESS AS IT MAKES PEOPLE FEEL INSPIRED AND REPRESENTED, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY IT IS NECESSARY TO VIEW THE COMPANY’S CULTURE WHERE MOST OF THE TIME THEY PROMOTE ALWAYS THE MOST SIMILAR PEOPLE IN SENIOR MANAGEMENT POSITIONS.” – JAD Fashion Designer
“I THINK WHEN IT COMES TO GENDER ISSUES, SOMETIMES IS NOT PURELY ABOUT JUST BEING A WOMAN, BECAUSE MORE POLICIES HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR WHITE WORKING WOMEN THAN COMPARED TO BOTH MEN AND WOMEN OF COLOUR. THERE IS A GROUP IN THE GALLERIES CALLED DCMS WHICH AIMS TO APPOINT PEOPLE ONTO BOARDS UNDER THE PREFIX THAT IS DIVERSE, BUT MANY TIMES THE PERSON WHO GETS A SENIOR MANAGEMENT POSITION IS A WHITE WOMAN, AND THIS STILL COUNTS AS INCLUSION AS IT FALLS INTO CLOSING GENDER GAP, ALTHOUGH DOESN’T CONSIDER ETHNICITY.” – JAD Fashion Designer
“WELL, I THINK THAT IS JUST AN INJUSTICE, AND I ALSO BELIEVE THAT NOW THERE IS A GENERAL INEQUITY IN MOST INDUSTRIES. BUSINESSES HAVE MUCH TO DO TO PROMOTE INCLUSIVITY IN HIGHER POSITIONS.
THERE’S AN AUTHOR CALLED SARAH AHMED, AND SHE GIVES AN ANALOGY OF A GARMENT BELONGING TO THAT BUSINESS, THE MORE THE PEOPLE ARE SIMILAR, THE GARMENT WILL FIT EVERYONE VERY WELL LIKE A GLOVE. IF IN THAT ORGANIZATION THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENCES, THAT GARMENT WILL NOT SUIT EVERYONE AND PROBABLY WILL BREAK AT SOME POINT. THIS OPENS UP SELF-REFLECTING ASPECTS AS THE QUESTION THAT COMES TO ME IS “HOW FAR CAN I GO IN THIS ORGANIZATION UNDER THIS SITUATION?” – JAD Fashion Designer
The Instagram live event has been a great way to raise awareness about D&I in a very short period of time and provided vital considerations for the continuation of this project.
- 233 participants
- 45min discussion
- 77% of the participants were aged from 18 to 34.
- 80% womens and 20% mens
- Majority of participants from Lodon (35%), but also from New York, Lagos and Accra.
CONSIDERATIONS
The audience was very diverse with participants from many different backgrounds, nationalities, and locations. The majority of participants were from London but also from New York, Nigeria, and Accra. The diverse audience in terms of localization leads to thinking about the importance of such an event and the effort of connecting online from different parts of the world. Moreover, according to the data obtained, young women’s seemed to be numerically way more than men’s (80% vs 20%) and this leads to understanding that this event and discussion might be much more of interest of females than males.
As it is possible to see from the picture below, participants have been actively engaging and asked questions mainly related to workplace favouritism and workplace stereotyping. Because of this discussion, It has been found that many people feel in some kind of control of their lives in their day to day activities and therefore they preferred discussing how to behave when the lack of inclusion happens in an environment that they don’t have full control, such as the workplace. Because of the very diverse audience, participants were interested in discussing workplace favouritism and desire to work with similar-looking individuals and considering this one of the most dangerous aspects threatening inclusive workplace environments.
new Question formulation
This intervention, I believe considering my sample target group has been very successful and smart in terms of reaching an objective with less time and limited resources. My initial question has been investigating “How to increase awareness about D&I among creatives in the U.K” and by hosting a worldwide online audience of 233 individuals I believe this can be considered achieved.
Moreover, the discussion has provided more useful considerations which have shaped the direction of this study. Participants at the live event have seen a necessity to improve businesses in this aspect as it is believed to not be sufficient and most of the time still not given the right importance. I consider it much more urgent at this time to focus on how to create much more inclusive workplace environments and tackle major issues such as workplace favouritism.
According to Suzanne Rankin, CEO of Steering Group, we all have “a natural inclination, without realising it, to treat people in different ways depending on how like us they are. If someone looks and sounds like you, if you have a similar background, you are much more likely to be positive towards them. If someone is different, then the chances are that you may treat them differently without being aware of it”. This has been widely discussed and supported during the live event and I believe that continuing in this direction, this project would grow and elevate its importance by providing insightful findings to businesses and professionals.
The most updated question at this point now reads:
“How can organisations increase fair performance assessment and create a more inclusive workplace environment?”