Gucci Announces Plans to ‘Embed Cultural Diversity’ Following Blackface Controversy
Written by SOURCE on February 16, 2019
Gucci‘s recent blackface scandal has prompted the label to rectify its apparent lack of diversity.
On Friday, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri announced four long-term initiatives that aim to improve cultural awareness within the fashion house. These actions are: Hiring global and regional directors for diversity and inclusion; setting up a multicultural design scholarship program; launching a diversity and inclusivity awareness program; and launching a global exchange program.
The announcement arrives just a day after Gucci executives met with Dapper Dan, a Harlem designer who collaborated with the label. Dapper Dan—legal name Daniel Day—addressed the meeting via Instagram on Friday, revealing the label was presented with a set of demands.
“We had some of the best minds from the corporate world participating, and experts in inclusivity and accountability—90% people f color,” Day wrote. “They made great demands. It’s time for Gucci to answer.”
Day said that once Gucci announced their intentions, he would host a town meeting in Harlem so that community members could discuss the proposed plan of action.
As part of Gucci’s initiative announcement, Bizzarri thanked Day for helping facilitate the meeting between the label and black business leaders.
“In the last days we have conducted a thorough review of the circumstances that led to this and have also engaged with all of our stakeholders, most especially our employees and leaders of the African American community, in order to determine immediate actions that will bring greater diversity to key functions in our corporate and regional offices […],” the CEO wrote. “I am particularly grateful to Dapper Dan for the role he has played in bringing community leaders together to offer us their counsel at this time. The initiatives we are announcing today represent the first phase of what will become a new systematic long-term plan of action to guarantee that diversity and inclusion are organic in everything we do.”
You can read detailed descriptions of the initiatives below.
