Luxury brands often enjoy a reputation for diversity, equity, and inclusion that run far ahead of less progressive corporations. But is that reputation truly deserved?
The luxury industry comprises a myriad of sectors: from beauty and cosmetics to wines, private jets, travel, and automobiles, and personal luxury goods including fashion, accessories, watches, and jewelry. Yet there are similar trends at play across these sectors, including a shift toward sustainable practices, growing interest in positive impact luxury, and an increasing emphasis on values-driven social objectives – often involving inclusion. If companies hold their values authentically, it is impossible to ignore questions about LGBTQ+ progression.
I began my career working in the luxury fashion industry and often saw LGBTQ+ executives working as CFOs, chief marketing officers, sales directors, etc. Twenty-five years on, with globalization and the professionalization – not to mention the rise – of powerful family owners in the industry, what I now see leaves me asking whether the industry has stalled on diversity, equity, and inclusion – or even gone into reverse when it comes to opportunities for LGBTQ+ individuals at the upper end of the corporate ladder. Based on the number of LGBTQ+ executives I see “in the closet” in the traditionally more conservative watch and automobile sectors, I am also questioning whether they have progressed at all.