Fashion Brands Who Are Embracing Women’s Rights & Diversity

Gucci Embraces Pro-Choice References Throughout Cruise Collection

At the end of last month, Gucci headed to the Capitoline Museums in Rome for its cruise 2020 show, where creative director Alessandro Michele paid tribute to freedom, in particular to women’s bodies. The show’s location at the Musei Capitolini is considered to be the first modern museum in history, opening in 1734. In Michele’s show notes, he described how most of his designs referenced the conversation between past and present.

Throughout the collection, the recurring theme of pro-choice was evident with an embroidered uterus on the front of one of the gowns and ‘My Body, My Choice’ emblazoned on the back of a jacket.

Speaking on the inspiration behind the collection, Michele told WWD: “It was a historical moment when women — finally — rejected all the constraints that were imposed in the previous centuries and they became free. That’s why I am paying homage to the Italian law regarding abortion, the law number 194. It’s unbelievable that around the world there are still people who believe that they can control a woman’s body, a woman’s choice. I will always stand behind the freedom of being, always.”

Since founding Chime for Change in 2013, Gucci has a longstanding commitment to women and girls by funding projects around the world to support sexual and reproductive rights, maternal health, and the freedom of individual choice.

Chime For Change is a global campaign founded by Gucci to convene, unite and strengthen the voices speaking out for gender equality. Co-Founders Salma Hayek Pinault and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter have led the campaign with its coalition of partner organisations, including The Kering Foundation, Hearst Magazines, Facebook and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The campaign has raised more than $15 million to support projects and advocacy in 89 countries, benefiting 570,000 girls and women globally and reaching more than 3 million family and community members.

Salma Hayek, Harry Styles and Zoe Saldana took in the collection, sitting front row alongside editors and influencers. The show took place in almost complete darkness, with attendees given a torch to hold up in order to see the collection.

Nike Celebrates All Bodies With Plus-Sized Mannequins

Another great step towards female inclusivity is, Nike introducing plus sized and para-sport mannequins in its flagship Oxford Street store in London!

The sportswear brand first debuted a plus-size range in 2017, which offered customers sizes up to 3X. After undergoing renovations, the Oxford Street store has unveiled its new women’s floor created exclusively for female athletes of all sizes.

Nike is not the only brand to use more realistic mannequins, with Missguided placing mannequins of different ethnicities as well as ones with stretch marks and vitiligo in its stores.

Rihanna‘s Fenty Fashion Label Uses Unedited Promotional Photos

Rihanna made major strides for inclusivity in the beauty industry when Fenty Beauty was launched in 2017, with her brand offering a diverse range of shades for all skin tones. Now she’s setting her sights on the fashion world, launching her new Fenty fashion line and using a promotional photo that appeared to be unedited. 

For years the beauty and fashion industry has constantly edited and retouched women’s ‘flaws’ including stretch marks, scars, acne and even changing the size of model’s bodies to appear slimmer.

Rihanna is challenging industry norms by featuring a model with visible face scars in print ads for her new Fenty fashion collection for the French luxury conglomerate LVMH. The image showed no signs of photoshopping to hide the model’s ‘imperfection’, which most brands would tend to hide.

Rihanna, who is the first woman to create an original brand at LVMH and the first woman of colour to own a LVMH fashion house, has also casted 67-year-old JoAni Johnson in her new Fenty campaign. Go RiRi!