Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Let's shift gears
Speaker 1: no pun intended there. Fashion industry. It's massive, covers so
Speaker 1: many different segments from luxury to second hand, at leisure,
Speaker 1: subscription services, so much more. Tim I came across one
Speaker 1: estimate global fashion pegged at a five point one trillion
Speaker 1: dollar market. It's got to leverage also to move the
Speaker 1: needle on so many things, whether it's climate change or
Speaker 1: diversity inclusion. Yeah, that's what we want to talk about
Speaker 1: with Dr Joyce Brown, president of f i T also
Speaker 1: known as the Fashion Institute of Technology. She joins us
Speaker 1: on the phone from New York City. Dr Brown, how
Speaker 1: are you? I'm fine, Thank you. How are you? We're
Speaker 1: doing well. There's a lot we want to get to.
Speaker 1: Carol mentioned the fact that the fashion can move the needle,
Speaker 1: and we want to discuss the f i t S
Speaker 1: creation of the Social Justice Center. It's a higher education
Speaker 1: initiative that's established help increase opportunity and accelerate social equity
Speaker 1: transformation UM for the bipop communities within fashion and creative industries. UM.
Speaker 1: Let's start by just identifying the problem here, what was
Speaker 1: give us some numbers about how big of an issue
Speaker 1: this has been. Well, it's a it's a tremendous issue.
Speaker 1: When you think about the representation UH and diversification of
Speaker 1: leadership ranks in in the creative industries. You know, it's
Speaker 1: it's their lifestyle industries. It's more than just fashion. It
Speaker 1: really does affect you know, every aspect from advertising, marketing,
Speaker 1: you know, product development fashion. So when you take a
Speaker 1: look at the composite UM and you really try and
Speaker 1: and and estimate what the representation is and how that
Speaker 1: impacts UH productivity and product development. UM, there's a there's
Speaker 1: a long road ahead that really UH where a lot
Speaker 1: of improvements can be put into place, and we think
Speaker 1: that Social Justice Center will help us do that. Dr
Speaker 1: Brown help me out here. I think there is a
Speaker 1: perception or belief, you know, whether it's Silicon Valley where
Speaker 1: a lot of innovation disruption happens, or whether it's anything
Speaker 1: to do with the arts. Fashion included right, that it
Speaker 1: would be more inclusive and diverse from the get go,
Speaker 1: and yet it hasn't been. How come Well, you know, look, fashion,
Speaker 1: like everything else is a business. UH. You know and
Speaker 1: and I always say, creativity and talent is equally distributed
Speaker 1: in society, but opportunity isn't. So how does you know,
Speaker 1: how do you get to be the one that is recognized?
Speaker 1: How do you get to be a brand? You know
Speaker 1: that really does require and the infusion of of of money,
Speaker 1: of trust, of networking of contacts. So you know, I
Speaker 1: think everyone is struggling for the same kind of recognition
Speaker 1: and it's not every door is open and every opportunity
Speaker 1: is available. So you know, there are many many talented
Speaker 1: people who are you know, creatives, uh and and makers
Speaker 1: of fashion and other elements of design, and they don't
Speaker 1: get the recognition. Well, what about when it comes to
Speaker 1: the big companies that recruit from F I T and
Speaker 1: how you've been able to really get them to support
Speaker 1: the Social Justice Center? Companies like product s Acts, Ralph
Speaker 1: Lauren targeted more. Um, what are you hearing from them
Speaker 1: about what they want to see in terms of the
Speaker 1: next generation of leaders. You know, I've really been encouraged
Speaker 1: by the enthusiasm and goodwill that these companies have demonstrated.
Speaker 1: They've they've put their their money in, they've said they've
Speaker 1: appointed people within their companies to be leaders in this area,
Speaker 1: and we're most appreciative of that. But you know, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's really good business. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, you when you look at what the impact
Speaker 1: is UM in terms of the buying power and the
Speaker 1: economic impact of people of color UH in in these
Speaker 1: creative industries. I think it was estimated in in twenty
Speaker 1: that the black community had an impact of one point
Speaker 1: six trillion dollars. So, you know, if we're honest and
Speaker 1: we look around at what's happening to the demographics in
Speaker 1: our society, it would be quite foolish not to pay
Speaker 1: attention to a growing and diversified market UM and So
Speaker 1: I think it's twofold. I mean, I think it's a
Speaker 1: partnership that benefits all that are engaging in it and
Speaker 1: UM and I think that's what we're seeing with the companies,
Speaker 1: And we're very grateful and appreciate tive and think they're
Speaker 1: going to make a tremendous difference by supporting scholarships, being
Speaker 1: open to the whole notion of internships for talented young people,
Speaker 1: for mentoring for the employees that they currently have in
Speaker 1: their practices. UM And you know, I I think there's
Speaker 1: a win in it at some element for for everyone
Speaker 1: that's engaged in it. Dr Brown, We have had guests
Speaker 1: on here that talk about the fashion industry and the
Speaker 1: impacts certainly on the climate and the environment. UH. You've
Speaker 1: probably seen the book about what it takes to make
Speaker 1: a pair of genes and the amount of water that's used.
Speaker 1: What's what are the conversations that the fashion industry are
Speaker 1: having when it comes to not only setting goals but
Speaker 1: really making sure that they attain them. There's a tremendous commitment.
Speaker 1: You know. Over time there's been a lot of conversation
Speaker 1: about sustainability and about the excesses UH and the of
Speaker 1: the of the fashion industry and the impact on the
Speaker 1: planet UM. And at one time it was looked at
Speaker 1: as if it was a business expense UM and it
Speaker 1: certainly does increase the cost of doing business. But at
Speaker 1: this point, the consumers have raised the consciousness so considerably
Speaker 1: about the importance of UH the practices of companies that
Speaker 1: it is really now just part of the cost of
Speaker 1: doing business UM. And there's lots of progress being made
Speaker 1: where companies are investing in waterless kinds of UM of
Speaker 1: practices where here at the college do. We have students
Speaker 1: who are very involved in what they call biodesign, and
Speaker 1: they are making textiles out of natural ingredients like pineapple
Speaker 1: and cambusha and my celium and various things that they
Speaker 1: do in the laboratories that that have strength and resilience,
Speaker 1: and the companies are are adopting in in their production.
Speaker 1: So it's very real and it's very important, and you know,
Speaker 1: when you deal with an educated consumer, you really do
Speaker 1: have to respond. I think it's very similar to what's
Speaker 1: happening with the requirement of a diversified leadership UH and
Speaker 1: and employee ranks. People are knowing what they want to
Speaker 1: see and and and how they want to judge the
Speaker 1: companies where they invest their funds. Hey, Dr Brown, what
Speaker 1: whenever we talked to an educator, I mean whenever talked
Speaker 1: to anyone, I should say, we asked about what things
Speaker 1: were like during the pandemic, what they've been like during
Speaker 1: the pandemic. But I wonder specifically for you and particularly
Speaker 1: for you the Fashion Institute of Technology, right, this is
Speaker 1: an industry that requires lots of hands on, hands on
Speaker 1: and in person experiences. How have you dealt with the
Speaker 1: pandemic and where are you right now in terms of
Speaker 1: education or students? There are they? Are they getting to
Speaker 1: be around each other? Well, it's interesting you ask, because
Speaker 1: yesterday was the first day of our spring semester, and
Speaker 1: yes we are opening in We opened in person. We
Speaker 1: actually delayed the opening until yesterday. We had come back
Speaker 1: for the fall semester UM and of course had to
Speaker 1: go back to remote right at the end when a
Speaker 1: macron was really surging in the city. But what I
Speaker 1: would say is that we where nothing is not resilient
Speaker 1: um and students, particularly so the faculty. We made big
Speaker 1: investments in technology that allowed faculty to go remote. You know.
Speaker 1: It's uh. We have done strategic planning looking at what
Speaker 1: the future, what the response of education should be to
Speaker 1: future changes, and we thought we had anticipated what would
Speaker 1: happen in another ten years, and it all happened in
Speaker 1: March of and we were there from the deep end
Speaker 1: of the pool trying to figure out how we were
Speaker 1: going to stay float and and educate the students who
Speaker 1: had come to us for that, and we did. We
Speaker 1: did pretty well. I think it was difficult for our
Speaker 1: art and design students. The business students did a little better,
Speaker 1: but the art and design. Students need that tactile uh
Speaker 1: in person, you know, draping and touching, and of course
Speaker 1: learning the software and the new advances of technology that
Speaker 1: really do so infiltrate and infuse fashion today. But all
Speaker 1: in all, we did not lose that. You know, many
Speaker 1: students we have, you know, their colleges all over this
Speaker 1: country that are you know, bemoaning the loss of of
Speaker 1: their student body. We did not lose that much. The
Speaker 1: students are very there's amused sitting on their shoulder and
Speaker 1: they and they need to answer it. And they've come
Speaker 1: back and they're are anxious to be together in the
Speaker 1: studios with their faculty, and you know, I'm I'm quite
Speaker 1: hopeful that we will have a good spring semester and
Speaker 1: you know they will be able to deliver on um
Speaker 1: the promise that's their talent creates. Although you know, it's
Speaker 1: also interesting when you look at their artwork, you know,
Speaker 1: the pandemic is very much reflected in what that experience
Speaker 1: was like bad I bet it's coming out right and
Speaker 1: their their innovations and designs. Um, We're gonna leave it there.
Speaker 1: Dr Joyce Brown, thank you so much, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: President of f I T on the phone in New
Speaker 1: York City,