The 10-minute survey was shared online with Vogue Business newsletter subscribers, on LinkedIn and Instagram, and in person to over 350 industry professionals. Data analysis was conducted by Condé Nast’s in-house custom research team in collaboration with the authors of this series. Statistical comparisons between groups were made at 95 percent confidence intervals.
To take part in the survey, respondents had to be over 16 years old and working in the fashion industry. Of the respondents, 55% were under 35 and 44% were over 35 (1% did not wish to answer). 80% of respondents were female and 18% were male (2% self-identified or did not wish to answer). 30% were freelancers and 67% were employed full-time. By job title, 61% were managers.
This data has unavoidable limitations. While the survey was shared with a global audience, the majority of respondents were based in the US (35%) and the UK (30%). Due to cultural sensitivity and different legal constraints on data collection, questions about race/ethnicity and sexuality were only asked to US and UK respondents. The majority of respondents in these markets were White or Caucasian (66% in the US and 70% in the UK), so other races and ethnicities were too underrepresented to report separately. These were grouped together for the purposes of analyzing the report, so statistics on race and ethnicity represent a comparison between White people and people of color throughout.
To avoid oversimplifying a complex global industry and conflating upstream and downstream supply chains, the study focused on post-production occupations such as buyers and merchandisers, journalists and copywriters, public relations and marketing professionals, creative and strategic consultants, models and influencers, and creative occupations such as designers, photographers, stylists, hair stylists and make-up artists. The study did not include garment workers or supply chain workers, whose plight deserves further attention but is outside the scope of this study.
Subverting dreams
This series explores how an individual’s background influences success, what kind of lifestyle is needed to succeed in the fashion industry, and the mass burnout faced by those working in the fashion industry. These factors threaten to expose the “dream” of the fashion industry as false; fashion workers are both victims and perpetrators of that “dream.” In response, workers feel they must continue to recreate and reinforce the dream to prove to themselves and others that the sacrifices they’ve made in this job were worth it. But with a confluence of global crises including climate change, a cost of living crisis, growing inequality, and political unrest, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the realities of the fashion industry. Now, the industry needs to rebrand itself as a significant and fundamental force for change if it wants to sustain talent, not just profits. But with a workforce plagued by organizational burnout, that’s hard to do.
