Diversity is becoming an increasingly important topic in the modern world. Diversity within fashion marketing is no exception to this and is a topic that has not been explored in depth. Research has shown that the majority of the research surrounding diversity in marketing focuses on women’s fashion. This dissertation aims to explore diversity in men’s fashion marketing and how marketers can better represent ethnically diverse UK males aged 18-25 within their work. In addition to this the study will look at how Fenty can be seen as an exemplary brand for other brands to learn from.
Following the literature review seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with males from the UK aged 18-25. Males within the study where of diverse backgrounds. Thematic analysis of the interviews found that interviewees expressed that in order for brands to be diverse they needed to understand that it is not a box ticking exercise and that diversity begins at the core of a business and needs to be built alongside the company. Interviewees also responded negatively to the idea of tokenism and many showed dissuasion from brands who fail to be diverse. While it was outside of the scope of research body diversity was another common theme during the interviews with many respondents highlighting that this was important to them.
From this analysis it has been recommended that fashion marketers should look to build with diversity rather than treating it as an afterthought. For fashion marketers to be able to better represent UK males aged 18-25 it is imperative to build an inclusive environment and foster diversity at every stage of the marketing process whether this be in model casting or those working behind the scenes as this will create meaningful diversity that will then reflect in a brands marketing.
PLEASE NOTE: You must be a member of the University of Lincoln to be able to view this dissertation. Please log in here.