Impact Is the CFDA’s New Talent Directory for Black and Brown Creatives

Since the Black Lives Matter protests of last spring, the American fashion industry has launched multiple initiatives aimed at redressing its structural racism. The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund’s A Common Thread program gave $1 million to Harlem’s Fashion Row Icon 360 Fund for Black and POC fashion companies affected by the pandemic. Aurora James has spearheaded the 15 Percent Pledge, which calls on retailers to commit to a minimum of 15% of their shelf space to black-owned businesses.  And Lindsay Peoples Wagner and Sandrine Charles created the Black in Fashion Council to produce yearly report cards tracking the work that companies are doing to foster representation of Black employees.

The CFDA is announcing a related program today. Impact is a talent directory powered by the job platform Creatively where BIPOC fashion creatives can post their resumes and work for evaluation by companies with open positions, as well as a place where those companies are posting jobs. “It’s an opportunity for brands to widen their talent pipeline, to really engage with underserved and underrepresented communities and really get to see the talent that does exist,” says new CFDA president CaSandra Diggs. She sees Impact as a mashup of LinkedIn and Instagram, and a complement to the other projects begun in the last year. “We have the same goal. And the goal is to create advancement for black and brown and BIPOC professionals in the industry. We’re all aligned; we’re just taking different approaches and that is what’s necessary.”

Beyond being a job board, Impact will support group mentorship as well as other networking and community building initiatives, some of which were prompted by a recent CFDA and PVH study. “We had some interesting findings from the study in terms of access and awareness that professionals and creatives of color have around feelings of belonging and how they’re advocated for and promoted, as well as conversations around allyship,” explains Diggs, who was the chief administrative and financial officer of the CFDA prior to her appointment as president last August. “I think we should lead with equity,” she continues. “I think that’s important, because if you have that equity then you automatically will get diversity and inclusivity right: when people feel psychologically safe, when they feel like they have a choice in decisions, when they feel welcome.”

The platform is launching this Friday, February 26, with Tom Ford, Tory Burch, Rag & Bone, SKIMS, Gap, and Saks OFF 5th, among others on board. Other brands including  and SKIMS have committed to using Impact when they have open full- or part-time positions, freelance opportunities, or paid internships. The CFDA will promote the participation of young creatives through its work with SUNY and CUNY schools, HBCUs, and other fashion programs.

“I think it’s important to understand that this is about what matters; we can’t position it as a moment,” Diggs says. “It is really about equity leading to equality. As a leading institution of influence in the industry the CFDA’s job is to create resources for our brands and for the industry. Our job is to support them. This is the conversation that’s happening right now: how can we contribute and be helpful? That’s what we’re here to do.”