Week 2 @ Zac Posen: Current Event

I’ve recently read an article on Refinery29.com that addresses the growing use of healthier and “normal” weight models in fashion campaigns as well as making the workplaces more sustainable.  The article specifically targets H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson’s new plan to push his Bangladesh factories to increase the minimum wage and equal opportunities for the workers.  In addition, he plans to move towards using healthier models and veer away from the “too skinny” ones.  These changes may be a huge step for the rest of the fashion industry since H&M will no doubt be highly praised for these efforts. 

This change could effect how the workplace at my company, Zac Posen, chooses to move forward with its own advertising.  The switch to using more realistically sized models is a great idea for H&M, but since the target customer and luxury level difference between the companies is so large, Zac Posen may be better off by sticking to its usual curvy yet thin and leggy models.   I know that money is a huge issue everywhere, but the recent sustainable changes in H&M’s company may have a bigger effect on a company like Zac Posen.  In light of the recent tragedies in Bangladesh, this issue has hit the fashion industry hard and many are expecting large companies to make more sustainable changes.

 

I brought this article up to one of my fellow interns at Zac Posen and we were both in agreement on the topics.  We felt that the industry should follow in H&M’s footsteps and work to make changes in the images they are sending out to the public about what is beautiful in respect to weight and size.  It will be more appealing to the population as a whole if they recognize the issue that the industry models are thinner than what is normal or expected.  We also agreed on the fact that even though our company is known for treating its employees very well, there is always room for improvement on the topic of pay and sustainability.

Address for the article:

http://www.refinery29.com/2013/05/47680/hm-ceo-interview-sustainability

Image from a recent H&M campaign using the "curvier" Beyonce as a model