The Rainbow Glass Ceiling
There’s an ugly truth in fashion. For all of the industry’s “wokeness,” many of its smart and capable LGBTQ executives climbing the corporate ladder all too often smash into a rainbow glass ceiling on their way to the corner office. The amorphic, but complex, barrier is made up of conscious and unconscious biases, typecast expectations, silence, misunderstanding — and fear. It protects the status quo and reinforces the image of the chief executive officer as most often a straight, white male. It denies retail, fashion and beauty companies leadership that is as diverse as their customers. There are some cracks, small openings where people with skill, determination and bravery found companies that were open enough for the top job to tilt toward the LGBTQ. Still, even as the fashion and beauty worlds come together — in some cases, in a self-congratulatory way — to celebrate Pride Month and mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, out of the 100-plus major fashion companies and brands around the world, there are only a handful of LGBTQ ceo’s. Jeff Gennette is ceo of Macy’s Inc.; Geoffroy van Raemdonck is ceo at Neiman Marcus; Joshua Shulman is ceo of the Coach brand; Robert Hanson is chairman at JohnFollow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
from WWDWWD http://bit.ly/2xdoEEq
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