Inclusivity may be fashion’s biggest trend.
Just ahead of New York Fashion Week, Tapestry Inc. brought together more than 50 of its fashion peers to sign the “Open to All” inclusivity pledge, a nod to the industry’s commitment to fostering inclusivity and protecting equality in the workplace.
Thursday’s event marks a continuation of the fashion industry efforts to further the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Included in that is the promotion for gender equality, quality education and a living wage for all workers.
Tapestry’s chairman and now chief executive officer Jide Zeitlin, opened the event noting that companies are all much stronger in what they do when their people are bringing their best self to their place of work.
Zeitlin also said the signing of the pledge is the company’s message that it “will not tolerate discrimination.”
“Together, we are taking a stand for the rights of our customers, our employees and our partners,” he said.
Zeitlin and the brand CEOS for Coach, Stuart Weitzman and Kate Spade all signed the pledge.
Ineke Mushovic, executive director of Open to All, said that in the two years since the inception of Open to All, it now has more than 5,000 companies signed on. Mushovic also invited executives from the companies present to join the Inner Leadership Circle–which already includes Gap Inc., Old Navy, Levi Strauss & Co. and Tapestry as members–to help “take inclusion to the next level.”
“Two-thirds of millennials say they buy and support products they believe in, and now they are saying that they buy products that support their social values,” she said, noting that firms that stand for inclusion are also making a transformative statement that can impact the hearts and minds of consumers.
Other fashion firms that are now signatories to the pledge, include Capri Holdings Ltd., Hudson’s Bay Co., Inditex, Kering, Movado Group, PVH Corp., Rag & Bone, Ralph Lauren Corp., Tiffany & Co. and the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Laurent Claquin, president of Kering Americas, said, “At Kering, we believe diversity and inclusivity are a source of creativity and innovation, and thus, these qualities are at the heart of everything we do.”
At Ralph Lauren Corp., president and CEO Patrice Louvet said, “While we continue to take actions to foster inclusion in our workplace, coming together with our peers to demonstrate our collective commitment is an important and power step towards progress.”
Gap and Levi Strauss & Co. were the original signatories to the pledge from the fashion sector.