Are Fashion Careers Gendered?
Women have been drawn to the fashion world for centuries. Since the 1700’s, we can see the vast changes of styles and trends that the industry has experienced. At its core, women have been a major part of manufacturing and sporting the most on-trend looks of every era. However, their efforts have not always been recognized.
The Start of Women in Fashion
Prior to the mass production of garments in the mid-nineteenth century, women drafted, constructed, and produced garments for their own families. This was a societal expectation that forced women to become clothing designers, manufacturers, and product managers without the recognition and compensation that came with such titles. In times of hardship or if they came from lower class standings, women would take on jobs such as garment factory workers. During this time, there were little to no regulations or laws in place for factory work. Individuals working in these jobs worked in dangerous conditions and experienced long weeks, many times exceeding sixty hours. However, the pay that was given for this hard work did not bring many of these families out of their situations. In contrast, the designers and owners of these factories and fashion houses were able to create names for themselves, experiencing great luxuries and living amongst the higher classes.?
Men Enter the Industry?
Looking back to the 1860’s, designers such as Charles Frederick Worth dominated the industry with high-class dressmaking, impeccable fittings, and innovative garment construction. This was known as haute couture.?
It was a practice accomplished through the handiwork of garment factory workers. Because of their hard work, Worth was deemed the “father of haute couture” according to the Met’s article, Charles Frederick Worth… and the House of Worth. The women and children working in these garment factories made roughly forty-four cents an hour, approximately sixteen dollars an hour today. In contrast, men in the same positions made closer to one dollar an hour, approximately thirty-seven dollars an hour today. When looking at nineteenth century Europe, we can see this gender inequality continue.
During this time, it was considered a great honor for upper class members or royals to be seen wearing a tailors designs. As such, men in England and France sought to be a part of prominent guilds and become master tailors. This would give them the opportunity to have their clothing be worn by Kings and members of the higher classes. In order to keep the prestige, guild leaders fought to keep women out of lofty ranks, having them seen as merely seamstresses, not high-end designers. Because of this, women’s ability for career advancement and individual prestige were limited.
Know thy Consumer?
As time went on, men continued to be rewarded for their role as the main perspective in the female clothing industry. Vogue’s 2021 article, ‘Fashion has a Gender Problem…’? goes on to detail the disparity between fashion companies’ hierarchies and the customers they service. The article states, “women spend almost three times the amount of money on clothing that men do annually…”. So why is it that they are not able to represent the heads of the companies they keep in business??
Similar to the guild system restrictions in the 1800’s, women are still cornered into fixed positions within clothing companies. They represent about seventy-three percent of clothing store employees. In contrast, they make up only about fourteen percent of major executives for well-known fashion brands. Even while constituting such a large grouping of the target market and being the everyday face customers see when shopping in-store, women have had a much harder time advancing within the fashion industry in comparison with their male counterparts.
The 2018 New York Times article, ‘Fashion’s Women Problem’ supports the themes in ‘Fashion has a Gender Problem’. The article continues to explore the gender inequality of the fashion industry by stating that over 80 percent of fashion majors identify as female across the top fashion schools in the country. However, it recognized the greater ease men had on attaining and pursuing higher titles within fashion companies.?
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An example of this is within a 2022 article from People magazine titled, ‘Ex Victoria's Secret Staffers Say Male Execs Only Cared About an 'Unattainable, Bombshell' Image’. The article details how former Chief Marketing Officer, Edward Razek, made final decisions that did not align with what many of the models or consumers sporting the items preferred. FOrmer Victoria’s Secret executive, Sharleen Ernster, states “We were just following the bombshell, unattainable single vision of how men see women and it was really frustrating to all of us internally at Victoria's Secret.” Yet again, another example of men using their titles define who women are and what they should wear.?
The Future of Fashion
Going forward, the solution to this problem is simple. Force companies to look at women the same way they look at men. With the potential to be great leaders and innovators, with equal worth, with serious consideration both artistically and logically. Once companies are able to change their internal cultural practices at the corporate levels, they will be able to change these issues are subordinate levels as well. Allowing diverse perspectives on the design and implementation process that large fashion companies require will allow for better flow of operations, happier staffers, and more relatable and relevant merchandise.?
Now, we have begun to see women turning to themselves to create the culture and collections they want to see. Platforms such as Etsy have allowed women to thrive and become their own bosses. Eighty-six percent of Etsy sellers are women who create items ranging from custom pins to embroidered hoodies. If companies want to keep employees and not create competitors, they should start to implement the changes their consumers and employees want to see.?
Work Cited