After a weekend away, I checked my emails this morning to a Drapers editor’s pick. The overarching theme of this week’s was sexual harassment in the work place. While I intend this blog to be mainly fun and carefree, I would be naive to waste the opportunity to use this platform I am building to speak on important matters. Reading these articles as a woman planning on entering this industry is a sobering experience. And I can’t help but feel frustration with the failure to protect and respect women in 2025. Have we really come as far as we say?
The theme of this weeks Drapers Editor’s pick comes after Primark CEO Paul Marchant’s resignation with immediate effect after an investigation into his conduct in the workplace (Weston, 2025). As well as this, the week’s must-reads included Winifred Okocha’s report on the possibility of Harrods’ dishing out up to £300,000 in compensation due to harassment at the hands of previous owner Mohammed Al Fayed. It’s a scary thought, seeing how many men in power abuse it; creating fewer and fewer safe spaces for women.
A question I have found myself repeatedly asking is why aren’t there more women in charge in this industry? The fashion industry is marketed and aimed at women and girls, so why aren’t we the ones that the top? In 2024, out of the 30 top luxury brands in the Vogue Business Index, only 7 of the creative director roles were held by women. That’s a measley 23.3%. And yet, when these roles are female led, the improvement for business is significant. For example, Dior sales have more than quadrupled since 2016, when Grazia Chuiri became the artistic director. How come the people who will actually wear the clothes aren’t allowed to design them?
2022 saw the release of reports about the abuse and maltreatment of factory workers in Myanmar, with the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre estimating 90% of these workers are women. This isn’t an issue in Myanmar alone, globally almost 60% of garment workers are women. Women are more likely to be in lower level positions than men often due to care and domestic responsibilities. In these roles, they are met with horrific working conditions, minimal pay, no access to social security and sometimes no maternity leave; basic human rights. The inherent misogyny and abuse runs all through the supply chain.
However, it’s encouraging to note that there has been progress since 2020, with the percentage of women holding board roles increasing to 38%. As well as this, in the past year, several women were appointed as CEOs, including Paula Nickolds at The White Company, Julia Goddard at Harvey Nichols, Laura Brown at Aspinal of London, Catherine Nunn at Lakeland, Fran Millar at Rapha Racing, and Sonia Lopez Delgado at Pandora UK. While there’s still work to be done, this growth is a positive step forward, showing that efforts toward greater gender diversity and inclusion are starting to make an impact.
References: https://www.voguebusiness.com/story/fashion/what-would-fashion-look-like-if-women-were-in-charge Drapers – Harrods to pay £300,00 Drapers – Primark CEO quits Racism, gender imbalance and inclusive stores: key Drapers investigations from 2024 Drapers – Why fashion is still failing its female supply chain workforce Drapers investigates: driving female leadership in fashion
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