Fashion schools are decolonising the curriculum. Good news for luxury brands?

To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here. This is the second in a series analysing fashion education’s impact on the future of the industry. Read part one here. For generations of fashion students, the lives and creative work of designers such as Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent have exerted a powerful fascination, in turn reinforcing the dominance of a white and Western-driven fashion narrative. However, many fashion schools and colleges, inspired by their Gen Z students, are now rethinking their remit. A process of decolonising the curriculum is underway, with far-reaching implications for the luxury sector in the years ahead. Gen Z students have a more critical approach to the Western-dominated narrative, opting to give more credit to previously overlooked creatives, including designers of colour and from non-Western countries. The decolonisation process is about more than diversity and inclusion initiatives, however. It addresses the structures that are perceived by many academics to uphold racism. “Decolonisation is acknowledging and addressing all of the systemic barriers that were created through the legacy of colonialism and imperialism,” explains Kim Jenkins, a fashion scholar, consultant and founder of the Fashion and Race Database. The aim is to disrupt the power structures that have benefitted dominant groups at the expense of ethnic minority communities (now often described by academics as “global majorities”), she says. While theorists argue that total decolonisation would require an entirely new social and economic structure, many fashion academics insist decolonisation is not about erasing Western fashion history. Instead, they argue that decolonisation is additive — it’s about filling in the gaps in our understanding of history; adding context to better understand the impact of colonialism; and acknowledging how people of colour have played key roles in developing the fashion system. “You hear about the brand name but you don’t hear about the designers and workers of colour who are heading the design aesthetic for that brand,” says Elka Stevens, associate professor and coordinator of fashion design at Howard University in Washington DC, a top HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). “We have to begin to decloak the myth of luxury brands — there are people of colour within those spaces, even if you don’t know who they are by name.” Academics say that students are increasingly questioning the iconic names that dominate conventional fashion history. “The histories of fashion that have been told, which tend to centre on Western Europe and North America, don’t adequately reflect students' interests,” says Elizabeth Kutesko, course leader for the fashion critical studies MA at London’s Central Saint Martins, who has renamed a key module ‘Reimagining Fashion Histories’ to reflect a broader, more critical perspective. What should Western luxury brands do? Western luxury brands should embrace, rather than resist, the new ideas emerging, says Raissa Bretaña, who teaches fashion history at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute. “Heritage brands have to reckon with the less savoury aspects of their history,” she says. “It’s an incredible opportunity to be on the right side of history going forward — and [to] recognise that they need a more diverse pool of creatives and advisors.” An open-minded approach is driving the most inspired new teaching. “When I’m teaching students about [Western] designers, I do my best to dismantle the genius narrative,” Bretaña says. “I’ll gratefully acknowledge their accomplishments, but I try my best to show that these designers are not infallible — in fact, many of them were very problematic.” Heritage is an important component of any luxury brand story, but selective presentation of heritage might backfire in future as consumers become more questioning of conventional narratives. “You have to be careful what you wish for. [Relying on heritage] has given a licence for consumers to not only look at the version of the heritage that the brand wants to provide — a whitewashed one, most likely — but also some of the negative aspects of a brand’s history,” says consumer psychologist Michael Solomon. Leading luxury brands are developing an awareness of the challenges ahead. “No fashion brand wants to be accused of racism. Making this industry aware of their responsibilities is key,” says activist Bethann Hardison, who is executive advisor of global equity and culture engagement at Gucci. Decolonising in practice: Improving access For the luxury sector, the changes of approach in academia are being translated into practical initiatives. Top of the list of priorities: improving access and acknowledging the contributions of people of colour to the fashion industry. In this process, connections between brands and universities can help. Brands are partnering with universities to support diverse new talent from the next generation. “The cooperation between brands and Black designers stimulates both sides,” says Stevens of Howard University. “It increases the longevity of brands because they’re tapping into a different map and market share, and as they begin to improve diversity and support, they increase access. This is a win-win for all of us.” The Gucci Changemakers scholarship programme, now in its third year, distributes $50,000 grants to grassroots organisations and offers 10 US-based students from underprivileged backgrounds $20,000 one-year scholarships. “These engagements not only ensure we as a brand are accessible to our partner and communities, but also that we are able to learn about what’s important to the communities we serve,” says Antoine Phillips, Gucci Americas VP of brand and culture engagement, who oversees the Changemakers initiative. “It’s all about creating authentic, real relationships within the BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Colour] space and beyond.” A focus on improving hiring practices is considered essential, both in junior and senior positions, say academics. “The decision-making spaces of brands are not diverse enough. If you have a homogenous community making decisions, they’re less likely to catch the most common mistakes, such as cultural appropriation, that get brands in trouble and make them seem tone deaf,” says Jenkins of the Fashion and Race Database. Feben, an emerging London designer supported by the British Fashion Council’s NewGen programme, says the wider industry should be prioritising community. “We’ve improved with talking about sustainability [in terms of] the materials, but brands never talk about the sustainability of who we work with. Do we have a sustainable workforce? Who can I employ that can reinforce their community so we can learn from them?” Feben, who was born in Pyongyang and raised in Sweden by her Ethiopian mother before moving to London, collaborates with artisans in Ghana and Peru, hoping to support communities in those countries. She has also collaborated with photographer Dexter Lander to create T-shirts donating proceeds to UK mental health charity Black Minds Matter. Feben would like to see the major players in the luxury industry do much more. “It’s easier for younger brands to talk about social issues and social justice — but the big players are the real gatekeepers,” she says. The principal criticism voiced against bigger luxury brands by activists and academics is that their initiatives are fundamentally performative rather than wholeheartedly integrated. “There are a number of very well-known luxury brands that demonstrate what I would call a performance of anti-racism and social justice, where they use Black and brown bodies to justify a more inclusive set of buying choices,” says Aisha Richards, director of Shades of Noir, the Centre for Race and Practice-Based Social Justice at University of the Arts London. “However, when you look at their design teams, how they pay or don’t pay their manufacturing staff, and how they source ideas, that’s when big questions come up.” Learning from fashion’s history The decolonisation process involves reassessing the voices that have been silenced in history. This can be stimulating for the creative process. Young designer Tia Adeola, who has dressed the likes of Dua Lipa and model Gigi Hadid, is heavily influenced by the Renaissance era, but with a modern perspective. “What’s missing from Renaissance paintings is people like myself. When they are in these paintings they’re often depicted as jesters or maids,” she says. “I wanted to take the ‘fashion trends’ of that time and modernise them for every girl to be able to wear today.” Jenkins of the Fashion and Race Database recommends brands work with experts to excavate their histories and evaluate problematic or insensitive messaging around their heritage. She set up consultancy Artis Solomon in 2021 to help brands become more culturally aware. Full transparency, perhaps including the release of public statements, is advised, particularly for the oldest heritage brands that might have benefitted directly or indirectly from slavery. “Once you can digest that and be courageous enough to say, ‘this was our past but that is not our present nor our future’, you’ll get a lot of respect from customers and may even get a broader customer base as a result,” she says. Transparency allows brands to redefine their narrative and recontextualise their heritage — before they’re called out online. A decolonised education for students can help the industry to move forward, says Jenkins. “If you’ve got a good fashion education that’s telling students the whole history of the industry from around the world, you’re going to have a crop of students who are also making wiser and more informed decisions.” Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com. More from this author: Designer and influencer Alexa Chung to close her fashion label The AI beauty startup that champions transparency and inclusion LVMH, Kering and Richemont shares fall amid Covid reemergence in Asia

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