How to Watch Kimberly Jenkins’ Virtual Talk on Racism in the Fashion Industry Tomorrow

The Fashion and Race Database founder will be joined by Robin Givhan and Sherri McMullen.

At 4:30pm EST tomorrow, you can virtually join a conversation led by the founder of The Fashion and Race Database, Kimberly Jenkins, featuring renowned fashion journalist Robin Givhan and luxury retail entrepreneur Sherri McMullen. The conversation is the third and final instalment of a series Jenkins created in partnership with Holt Renfrew’s H Project (which focuses on spotlighting international artisanal practices). 

Jenkins, who is also a professor at Toronto’s Ryerson University, introduced the ‘Retail as a Portal’ discussion series in order to examine, uncover and understand the systemic racism within the fashion industry which has caused issues from brand’s releasing racist designs to a profound lack of diversity behind the scenes.

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Our Library provides an ever-expanding collection of resources on ‘race,’ with its ideological and aesthetic influence shaping both history and our modern lives.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ This week, Research Assistant Adriana Hill is guiding us through what she has found on Intersectional Sustainability and its prevalence in fashion. Here we are highlighting a collection of books, articles, and podcast episodes that address this topic. We invite you to check out our other sources on Intersectional Sustainability, as this topic is addressed from various angles, and we always invite suggestions for more topics that you want to see. 1. The Slow Grind by Georgina Johnson (Book) 2. Why we still need a Fashion Revolution by Sarah Ditty (White Paper) 3. ⁣It’s Not Easy Being Green: Let’s Not Gatekeep Sustainable Fashion by Sharon Tang (Article) 4. Episode 102 Melanin & Sustainable Style + Ethical Fashion as a Privileged White Girls Thing by Conscious Chatter with Dominique Drakeford (Podcast Episode) 5. Episode 203 Manpreet Kaur Kalra, the white-washing of social Impact + Building inclusive brand narratives by Conscious Chatter (Podcast Episode) ⁣⁣ Cover photo: Gin Patin. Three Person Sitting on Green Large Net, 2019. #FashionandRace #FashionandRaceDatabase #Sustainability #IntersectionalSustainability

A post shared by The Fashion and Race Database (@fashionandracedatabase) on Oct 5, 2020 at 10:00am PDT

“As an educator teaching fashion history and theory, I was disenchanted with the lack of diverse resources in my field to work with and was troubled by the insidious influence of ‘race’ when it comes to beauty and power in fashion,” Jenkins said in a press release sent out in advance of the upcoming event. “The goal for the database is to centre and amplify BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of colour) fashion scholarship, illuminate under-examined histories, and address racism throughout the fashion system. What’s more, this platform will provide hands-on research and publishing opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students and showcase exciting work from established BIPOC writers and allies.”

Want to tune in? Register for the free event here.