Could we live in a more beautiful world?
Welcome to "nouveau monde", a four-handed newsletter to better understand how to make the world better through the lens of retail. This is #60 ! Who would have tell ?
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Le menu du jour at nouveau monde is about a black girl and a white man.
Today's newsletter is 1,085 words, a 5-minutes read (OMG).
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Window Seat
by Anthony
Some of you know me, some of you very well, so you might know that I adopted a girl from Ethiopia that is 15 years old today (and by the way, I called my company Mestawet by the name she had in Ethiopia :-) ).
So, yes, I’m a - quite - aged white male, but I’m directly concerned about inequalities regarding skin color as I have a black girl at home.
And I felt disappointed when we both realized that our local supermarket - Auchan to not name it - had stopped to sell the « Cacao » foundation make up she used to buy. And if you have a teenager girl, you know how it can become a big deal when she doesn’t have the whole makeup she needs to go to school or meet friends (which is a problem, I agree with you).
Which leads me to the matter of this article : Dove (yes the soap manufacturer) and LinkedIn (yes, the professional social network) partnered to make a study about hair of colored women and the work environnement.
And this is really sad to read this in 2023… A few facts : Black women's hair is 2.5x more likely to be perceived as unprofessional, which leads 2/3 of them to change their hair for a job interview.
If a black woman has oily or textured hair in the workplace, she is two times as likely to experience micro-agressions. Yes, because she’s has a « fancy » haircut.
As much as 20% of black women have been sent home because of their hair.
Which leads 54% of them to feel that they should have their hair straight for a job interview of 44% of them to have a headshot with straight hair.
#BlackHairIsProfessional
I’m really shocked by these figures (and happy that this type of study can be made in the US, not in France…)
A last fact regarding my daughter : she has beautiful hair but ALWAYS flattens them when she goes to school, I now realize a bit more the pressure she can feel…
More to read on the Crown, the coalition co-founded by Dove to reinforce diversity.
Source : trendwatching
Support Sustainability, Support the Fashion Act
by Phil
A call from Matt Powell, a very well known Industrial analyst in the Retail space, especially the sports segment. A guy that could help a lot at the Board of a big sporting goods retailer who would like to make it definitely in the US (I won’t say more). He’s brilliant at his job.
Sometimes no one else better than someone else than you. So there is Matt.
“A few years ago, sustainability was a lively topic in the sports industry. But enthusiasm has played out in recent months. Some brands and retailers realized how complicated and difficult sustainability truly is. Others figured out how to “greenwash”, giving lip service to sustainability, without building anything substantive. Refurbishing and reselling products has captured the imagination of marketers, but so far has not really been a commercial alternative.
And then we’ve seen the industry’s embrace of crypto and NFT’s. Both are extremely unsustainable. And both are proving pretty worthless, as I warned two years ago. I find it ironic that brands can claim to support sustainable practices and then waste energy on NFT’s which have no commercial value.
One place where interest in sustainability has not waned is with the consumer. Surveys show a strong commitment to the environment on the part of consumers. Survey also showed that consumers have no idea if the products they are buying are made sustainably or not, another industry failure. Brands that claim to want to get closer to their consumer cannot ignore their consumers interest in protecting the environment. If our customers are demanding more sustainable goods and practices, we must supply.
Gen Z and Gen Alpha both have made very clear that if the values of the brands they buy do not match their values, these young consumers will take their business elsewhere. It is no coincidence that brands that have been the most committed to sustainability have been the most successful in recent years.
In defense of the industry there have been few methods that helped brands measure and track their progress in sustainability. Until now.
The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (The Fashion Act) is being proposed in New York State. From their documents: “It is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that holds companies accountable and levels the playing field for those already trying to do the right thing. If passed, it will establish New York as the global leader in thoughtful accountability for the fashion industry.”
This new law, if enacted, would apply to any footwear or apparel company doing more than $100 million globally.
The law, as proposed, would do the following:
· Mandate that companies know and disclose their supply chain.
· Require companies to be responsible for their impact in those supply chains
· Require companies to set and achieve climate reductions in line with the Paris Agreement
· Require companies to work with suppliers to manage their chemical use
· Require companies to measurably improve the lives of garment workers
All of this would be monitored and enforced by the New York State Attorney General. Penalties would be levied for failure to measure and improve.
You can read more about it here:
https://www.thefashionact.org/
I know industry groups and some brands will wring their hands and say it’s too much, too soon. But opportunities like this do not come along every day.
Others will say it is only New York. Folks said the same about the stringent automotive emission standards “only in California”. Those standards changed the automotive industry forever.
One thing we know for certain: If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.
It is time for the industry to put its money where its mouth is. Let’s all step up.
Support the Fashion Act.”
Matt Powell.
Bonus track by Anthony
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