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Gucci Vows To Become A More Inclusive Brand

The brand will collaborate with non-profit organization Parks.

Gucci β€” a luxury brand that historically hasn't been on the forefront of diversity β€” is looking to turn a new leaf when it comes to inclusivity moving forward.

On Wednesday, the Italian retailer announced they would be teaming up with non-profit organization Parks - Liberi e Uguali to increase visibility for people of different ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations and genders.

Parks, which was founded in 2010, aims to help companies realize their biases when it comes to hiring, compensating their employees and other aspects of their business.

Gucci's CEO Marco Bizzari opened up to WWD Daily on the new changes.

"We are extremely proud to join Parks, and we could not identify a better moment to start the partnership with this inspiring organization," Bizzarri said. "In the past two years, we have implemented a complete turnaround of our company, following our mantra of being the voice of self-expression."

"Attracting, retaining and promoting talent, while celebrating ethnic, age, sexual and gender diversity, sexual orientation and gender identity across the company, is our mission, which is completely consistent with the vision of our parent company, Kering."

In late January, Gucci shared a series of casting tapes via their Instagram page for their pre-fall 2017 campaign. And while many applauded the brand for finally using models of colour, the context of the shoot had others scratching their heads.

Talent were asked about their "spirit animals," what having soul means to them, and were also instructed to dance to a Motown song β€” all of which can be seen as stereotyping.

Nonetheless, we'll have to stay tuned to see what the brand has planned in the upcoming months.

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