This story is part of ‘Debunking the Dream: Part Two’, a series based on an exclusive survey of 300 fashion designers, examining how they are navigating luxury's current crisis and how the industry might emerge stronger from it. Read it all here.
Back in 2020, the fashion show calendar was thrown into disarray by the global pandemic. Alessandro Michele, who was then creative director of Gucci, took this rare opportunity to rethink the show format and its rituals. A one-off event culminated in a 12-hour live stream, during which some of his design team modelled their own work. The presentation highlighted an uncomfortable truth: those working in-house to realise a star designer’s vision (as well as the workers producing the clothes) seldom share any of the spotlight.
Very few designers have kicked back against this. During his time at Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli became known for bringing his atelier staff on stage during the bow. Pharrell Williams did the same after his star-studded debut at Louis Vuitton in 2023, as did Sarah Burton after the Spring/Summer 2020 Alexander McQueen show. Within the world of high luxury, there are limited mechanisms to recognise artisans: Chanel stages its annual Métier d’Arts shows, while Dior has highlighted its partnerships with artisans around the world under Maria Grazia Chiuri.
Gestures aside, design teams remain widely unrecognised. Now, Vogue Business survey respondents who work in-house are calling for a shift in attitude. “Support and shine a light on the team behind the creative directors,” says one survey respondent. “Show the people actually doing and executing the work every season.”
Vacancies available beyond design
Experts say that a concerted campaign to downplay the role of designers and uplift other roles could help future-proof the fashion industry. The issue currently is an oversupply of designers and a dearth of technicians. “We need more students who don’t dream of becoming [Martin] Margiela, but the head of couture in an artisanal house,” says Orsola De Castro, founder of non-profit Fashion Revolution and change agency Estethica, who has worked in the fashion industry for over 25 years.
Reform needs to start with the fashion schools and permeate every level of recruitment, retention and recognition, says De Castro. That means making supply chain and technical roles more attractive and creative. “I never see the glorification of somebody who is brilliant at sewing or pattern cutting,” points out De Castro. “Without pay or validation, these still won’t be enticing jobs. How do we make sure these talents are put forward for the prizes and the press?” (This year, the LVMH Prize added the Savoir-Faire Prize to acknowledge exceptional craftsmanship, technical expertise, innovation or sustainability, albeit still in independent brands.)
Could designers think beyond design? “Design is a superpower — it gives you a really solid foundation to work in this industry,” says Olya Kuryshchuk, who studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins before founding 1 Granary. “So many roles could benefit from someone with a design background.”
London design school Istituto Marangoni’s director of education, Adi Maoz-Cohen, says design graduates have progressed to roles in trend forecasting, product development, sustainability consulting and digital fashion design, among others. “We believe that creativity is not confined to designers alone, nor is it limited to the realm of fashion design.”
Within the broader supply chain, there are many potential roles for design-trained people, too. Since the pandemic, supply chain resilience has become a growing concern for brands as legislators push for supply chain transparency and greater due diligence. Job opportunities are likely to increase, ranging from artisanal craftsmanship to logistics and sourcing. Experts say a more positive work-life balance and greater opportunities for career development and upskilling could also make supply chain roles more attractive.
Many luxury brands have been spotlighting supply chain skills in recent years as a means of differentiating luxury quality — and justifying price hikes. Bottega Veneta’s 2022 and 2023 ‘Bottega for Bottegas’ campaigns aimed to “pass along its global visibility” and “celebrate the Italian way of life” by featuring specialist makers. In 2021, Fendi presented its ‘Hand in Hand’ project, inviting 20 artisans (one from each region of Italy) to produce a limited-edition Baguette bag. And in April this year, OTB Group completed an ongoing docuseries on its Italian partner companies, M.A.D.E., Made in Italy, Made Perfectly, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of its supply chain financing initiative.
At Milan Fashion Week this September, Gruppo Florence, a luxury manufacturing company that includes 35 specialist Italian factories, presented a short documentary titled Le Mani della Moda (The Hands of Fashion), created in collaboration with Central Saint Martins and celebrating the artisans at five of its units.
Beyond communication efforts, there are also training and incubation programmes emerging for supply chain roles, backed by luxury brands keen to respond to artisan talent shortages. OTB’s manufacturing arm, Staff International, has a craftsmanship academy, Scuola Dei Mestieri, which aims to fill gaps in skills such as pattern making and tailoring. LVMH has an Institute of Métiers d’Excellence, which trains aspiring artisans in heritage skills.
“Whether it’s working on sustainability initiatives, engaging in tech innovation, or influencing DEI policy, fashion graduates have the potential to apply their knowledge in ways that go beyond starting their own brand or working in-house at an established label,” says Parsons dean of fashion Ben Barry. “Fashion is a lens through which [design graduates] can impact a variety of industries.”
Making in-house roles more attractive
Meanwhile, many designers who stick to their chosen career paths of design would like to see an overhaul of the system for recruitment and career development. The traditional pathway to an entry-level in-house role is focused on very long-established procedures. The larger fashion brands keep strong relationships with top fashion schools, sponsoring projects and scholarships, and using graduate shows to scout talent. Survey respondents note that this leaves little room for people outside the conventional pipeline and reinforces systemic biases in recruitment processes higher up.
Once in a job, career development is often problematic. Only 27 per cent of respondents who had worked in-house agree that there is a clear pathway for progression. “The only way I could progress is if someone else leaves their position,” says one survey respondent. “There are very few jobs at the senior level so you get stuck at the designer level,” says another. This has prompted some respondents to leave their in-house roles. At the same time, many brands are struggling financially, leading to the threat of redundancies and budget cuts.
.jpg)
High staff turnover in many design studios is an indicator that all is not well. Survey respondents say the stress of working in an industry driven by overproduction and overconsumption can take its toll, affecting designers’ motivations and progression. A respondent says their studio is constantly short of staff because of high turnover, leaving a training gap for junior staff with no superiors to teach them. Many are employed on fixed-term contracts, meaning permanent staff don’t invest in training — and they aren’t there long enough to progress.
“Barriers to progression stem from constant changes in leadership, which mean constant changes to the brand strategy,” says one respondent. “You start working towards one goal, and then it shifts entirely, or your role is eliminated or moved to another category where you need to build up knowledge and grow from scratch again.” Those who push back against fashion’s notorious burnout culture risk being passed over for progression opportunities. “Balancing personal life and career demands can slow down progression,” a respondent explains.
In some cases, the obsession with the role of the star designer has a direct impact on how more junior designers experience working in fashion. One respondent notes that in-house designers are treated “like trash over and over again” by creative directors, but those designers “are expected to be dedicated to [their creative director] 24-7”. The creative director’s power also leads HR, executives and the media to turn a blind eye to bad behaviour. It poses a risk to retention: one respondent says they left an in-house role to go freelance because of the “bullying and bad behaviour” they endured. “So much goes unchecked, and people are scared to speak out. I will never work as a full-time designer again after that experience,” they write.
In-house design can be restrictive. “The creative heads never let any designer use their creative freedom,” says one survey respondent. “Senior professionals find it hard to trust and give ownership of work to lower-level team members,” says another.
Several respondents called on fashion designers to unionise, developing “a legal body that ensures ethical work environments, non-exploitation of labour and clear progression pathways that reflect in seniority level, title and pay”. One respondent listed the specific improvements a union could advocate for: “Minimising in-office politics, improving internal systems, reducing stress, improving timelines (calendar milestones), increasing pay, more work-from-home flexibility.”
In the summer of 2023, a group of celebrity stylists in the UK formed a branch within Bectu, the country’s media and creative industries union, which has since extended to welcome all fashion workers in behind-the-scenes creative roles, including designers. Global movements in this direction have been limited, but the blueprint exists.
Despite the pressures of working in-house, many designers are wary about founding an independent brand. Don’t underestimate the advantages of an in-house job, says Kuryshchuk of 1 Granary. “As a designer who runs your own brand, you work in a tiny studio with no materials, no team, no production, no expensive fabrics, no time. If you’re at a big brand and you have the best atelier with no limit on anything, isn’t that a really creative space?”
However, some respondents to the survey see starting their own business as a way to circumvent the limited development opportunities in-house. “A lot of designers that start their own brands [straight after graduating] are the ones who didn’t get a job,” says Kuryshchuk. Just over half of respondents (51 per cent) express an interest in starting their own brand. The percentage skewed even higher for younger respondents, with 60 per cent of those under 35 and 72 per cent in intern, entry-level or junior roles wanting to start their own brand.
Respondents have lots of suggestions about how to improve conditions for designers, ranging from short courses to supplement their education throughout their careers and more exposure to sustainability teaching through to the use of agents (representing freelance or independent designers) to advocate for them and negotiate their contracts, similar to the agents that represent actors or models (freelance designers make up 27 per cent of the survey respondents). Several would like to see brands consider job applicants with less experience for entry-level roles. This would help to widen participation — and, ultimately, create a more inclusive industry.
Read ’Debunking the Dream: Part One’ — last year’s series on achieving success and avoiding burnout — here.
This content has been made open access. To enjoy unlimited access to Member-only reporting and insights, our TikTok and Beauty Trend Trackers, weekly Technology, Beauty and Sustainability Edits and exclusive event invitations, sign up for Membership here.
