Sincerity Test: Are Fashion Brands Genuine About Their Actions?
Question:
Setting aside the numbers in companies’ diversity, inclusion, equality, and sustainability reports, what are brands really doing directly, and how sincere are they about these issues?
Once at the height of toxic positivity, the fashion industry has faced a reckoning in recent years as millennials and Gen Z have spoken out against pollution, injustice, hunger, massacres, war, and racism. Demanding change to existing systems, they have put fashion brands to the test, challenging them to be more sincere in their commitments to diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and other values.
In response, many brands have embraced a new era of enlightenment, expressing their reactions to political issues on social media, establishing new organizational systems focused on diversity and inclusion, raising funds for environmental and social crises, and making promises about the future of the world. However, brands that have failed to adapt to this new reality have lost their brand values, been tried in the “social media courts,” and seen their sales decline.
So, what’s the most financially and emotionally satisfying formula for brands when it comes to diversity, inclusion, and values? Do brands have to embrace every value? And why do we, as customers, sometimes feel like we’re pawns in a marketing game?