CEO & founder of Fashion Roundtable, Tamara Cincik chairs the panel talk on ethnic representation in the fashion industry. With Fashion Roundtable set up only 6 months ago, the talk had the audience captivated.
The talk discussed representation of people of colour within the industry, with each of the members of the panel having their opinion contributed. The members of the panel were made up of Tamara, Karen Binns, Fashion Roundtable’s fashion expert and Editor and Publishers of What Magazine, in addition to Bev Malik , Fashion Roundtable’s retail expert, and brand and buying concept consultant, Karen Williams celebrity stylist who worked on the first magazine of colour, and Frederica Boateng a fashion lecturer, researcher and strategist and founder of fashion business education.
Alongside the panels opinion, many statistics were given during the talk such as in terms of designers, there are only 9% of ethnic representation in the industry. Panellists gave their own personal experience on the matter, with Bev Malik opening up about her half Indian heritage and explaining that Bev is not her real name but because her birth name was too deemed too ‘long’, she felt she had to change it and reveals “that’s a part of my identity I gave up.”
The talk appeared to inspire many of the audience, whom Karen was pleased to “commend the mix of students here.” Frederica expressed how difficult it was for her as a female black lecturer and said, “you rarely see black lecturers.” The eye opening and inspirational panel conversation led many of the audience to interact and express their own fears going into the industry. They encouraged the audience and expressed that from a designer point of view modest wear is the way to go, with Gucci showcasing mainly below the knee, this is what will bring in the revenue. The audience left feeling motivated and many held back to discuss in private with the panel members.
