By Annie Kate Jacobs
When you look at the fashion and design industry you will find very few fashion designers of color mentioned. You will also find barriers in the making of clothes for people because of their religion, ethnicity, gender, age, race, size and disability. Professor Joanna Deshay realized these barriers and developed a course at Arizona State University entitled “Inclusion and Diversity in Fashion.”
Professor Joanna Deshay
The course was designed to help introduce fashion students to the imperative need for diversity, equity and inclusion in the people, culture and systems within the fashion industry. Some of the student outcomes include:
- Understanding various perspectives and narratives of marginalized and underrepresented people, thoughts and ideas.
- Applying a broad range of terms and concepts regarding race, diversity, equity and inclusion to their critical evaluation of the fashion industry.
- Evaluating the ethical case for inclusion and diversity in fashion and how to embrace those differences.
- Developing an effective approach to creating space for diverse and inclusive collaboration in the various fashion segments.
- Examining the critical business case for diversity in fashion and its direct correlation with and impact on innovation, productivity and the bottom line.
The course is currently offered as a Fashion elective but her hope is twofold: 1. To write a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fashion book to guide the class and encourage other universities to teach a similar course and content; 2. Work toward making it a required class and part of our Fashion students’ roadmap.
Hopefully when her students complete this course they will not only have a better understanding of the design industry but will also work to promote justice and equality in the area of fashion design.