Stereotypes In The Fashion Industry

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Walking through New York City, or any big city, you pass buy hundreds of different designs from countless designers, most of whom are made men. Fashion is a part of everyday life, some more than others. Many people have their favorite go to designer who they know a lot about, however, not everyone knows the important details of actually being in the industry for both men and women. Clothing and fashion is what makes people and places so iconic all around the world, inspiring everyone in some way. Despite all the success and recognition male fashion designers have, there are many stereotypical views and bias to overcome in order to get to that point.
Becoming a fashion designer isn’t easy, it takes from working and experimenting with clothes
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Perceptions and stereotyping are most of the time unconscious, however that could change. If people are open to new ideas and views then many of the stereotyping thoughts wouldn’t occur. Like many people, these male fashion designers want to do what they love without people going against them. Isaac Hindin, who’s very active worker in the fashion industry explains that, “Until I was 28 years old, when people met me, they’d be like I can’t believe you have a girlfriend, I always thought you were gay”(qtd. in Schiffer). Many people carry the stereotype that all men in fashion are gay, however after Isaac spent more time in the industry; people soon stopped assuming such things. As time goes on the stereotyping is slowly fading, but that all depends on the person who believes such a thing. People don’t automatically stereotype to be rude; they do it because it fits their representative heuristic on the subject. A representative heuristic is usually based on how well someone or something’s fits a pre-existing prototype. So, in a case like this you might have the demographic that a man in the fashion industry must mean their gay, so when/ if you meet a man who happens to work in fashion you might end up thinking they’re gay because it’s apart of your representative heuristic. As many people are aware of, women's clothing “code” is …show more content…
Recognition is something many people look forward to and take into self pride. When accomplishing something big such as a new clothing line, it makes you feel good about all the hard work. During an interview Robin Givhan, a fashion critic and correspondent for The Washington Post, stated that, “while there seem to be countless young men in the fashion pipeline who have been anointed as the next great designer, the women who are their contemporaries seem to be quietly plugging along, without much fanfare and certainly without the labels of ‘darling,’ ‘wunderkind’ or anything else that suggests they have some kind of genius struggling to escape” (qtd. in Hyland). While men seem to be the minority that's not always true. Men designers in womens fashion seem to be very common. In some cases like this men are above women. Even though male and female designers seem to have the same talent, men seem to be the one who gains recognition. Both are working very hard to get to that point and all we see are the men coming out on top and the women trailing behind them. As Erin Cunningham talks about the history of women in the fashion industry compared to women in the industry now, she states, “It’s problematic that so many don’t even realize that these companies were, in fact, started by women- or that the designs and aesthetics we consume today are continuations of the values and

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