Burberry, Zalando and British Fashion Council Team Up on Diversity Initiative

Dubbed “The Outsiders Perspective,” the programme seeks to address the underrepresentation of minorities in the fashion industry.

Created by former Roksanda chief executive and BFC executive board member Jamie Gill, the initiative will provide mentoring opportunities to people of colour seeking to break into the fashion industry in various fields, such as sales, merchandising, operations, marketing and legal.

The programme has six financial backers in total, including the Mayor of London’s office, Deloitte and Karla Otto.

Participants will also benefit from networking sessions with industry leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds, including “chief marketing officers and merchandising experts from leading British fashion brands,” who will also run structured workshops to introduce candidates to the industry’s key business functions, Gill told BoF.

“Beyond being important for representation, The Outsiders Perspective will address a genuine business need in fashion,” said Gill. “So many companies tell me they want to hire diverse talent, they just don’t know how to go about it yet.”

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