The Fashion Minority Alliance has launched its Internship Agency to run in parallel with its longstanding Talent Directory platform — both of which are aimed at creating an equitable playing field in creative industries for BIPOC and underrepresented professionals.
The Fashion Minority Alliance Talent Directory, launched in 2020 the first of its kind for the fashion and beauty sector, aims to propel the careers of its members within the global arenas of fashion, design and beauty by directly connecting them to job recruiters at top companies. Today, international companies and worldwide FMA members have created profiles and vacancies on the site to provide opportunities at all levels which now includes the pre and entry-level career stage to support and foster the next generation of industry leaders from the start.
London-based, non profit, non-partisan organization, the FMA has chapters across Europe, Africa, and the USA and is dedicated to providing enduring career paths to talents across the board, many of whom have been hindered in the past from achieving their goals due to deep-rooted prejudices and unconscious biases.
Launched in 2020 by Barbara Kennedy-Brown and Cheryl Konteh, following the death of George Floyd, the FMA has worked with major corporations such as PVH, the Fortune 500 holding company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, Amazon, Marks & Spencer, and Endeavor, amassing a powerful network of global industry professionals and leaders who are committed to the FMA’s mission. In addition to educational initiatives and workshops, the FMA has most-recently garnered international media attention for its fair pay initiative, #FairPayFashionMonth, for backstage glam assistants, as well as minority talent showcases that unfolded during New York and Milan fashion weeks respectively.
With the objective to tactically work with fashion and beauty industry stakeholders to build and foster a more diverse, balanced, and inclusive industry that advances meaningful and long-term equity for BIPOC and marginalised talent, the FMA is currently the official partner of Italy’s fashion chamber Camera Moda Nazionale Italiana (CNMI).
“The FMA directory is a pool of Black and minority talents from different spheres of the fashion, beauty, lifestyle industries and beyond.” said Kennedy-Brown. “It’s not limited to the fashion industry, you can find Social Media Managers, writers and illustrators there for example, but the basis is that the pool is centred around people who want to work in the creative industries. And, with the addition of our Internship Agency, sitting alongside our original Talent Directory, we are creating a pipeline of future talent,” Kennedy-Brown added.
Counting representation from 21 countries, the Talent Directory was conceived so users can access vacancies directly, which they may not come across, and companies can filter the database by name, job title, industry, years of experience, transferable skills, and language to find the appropriate matches. Brands are also afforded the opportunity to send direct messages to job seekers, as well as enjoy an all-in-one recruitment solution that targets diverse and underrepresented talent, in order to ensure they are an agenda-setting, forward thinking business.
The Fashion Minority Alliance Talent Directory currently houses 2,000 profiles of BIPOC and underrepresented fashion professionals featuring designers, stylists, photographers, digital managers, visual merchandisers, make up artists and more and has been used by companies such as Victoria Beckham, Rankin Agency, Ellesse, Rixo, and Fernando Jorge amongst others.
“The FMA Talent Directory is a direct response to companies that say ‘we don’t know where to find diverse talent’, because there IS a place and there is no longer any excuse for a company not to have a diverse workforce that resembles the streets we, as a society, are walk along.”