Truly sickened by how deeply ingrained racism is in our society: Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham talked about how the fashion industry could be more inclusive. (Source: victoriabeckham/Instagram)

Designer Victoria Beckham believes that the fashion industry has a “huge role” to play in the Black Lives Matter Movement, which gained steam in the wake of African-American George Floyd’s death.

Black Lives Matter is an international human rights movement that originated from within the African-American community, against violence and systemic racism towards black people.

The 46-year-old fashion designer wrote on Instagram, “We can all be better. It starts with representation, both within our businesses and who we work with externally.”

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I’ve taken a step back this week to focus on the tragic events that have been highlighted recently. Watching things unfold and learning more about the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve been truly sickened by how deeply ingrained racism is in our society. It’s clear that it’s each of our responsibilities to speak out and I want to use my platform for education, conversation and change.  The fashion industry has a huge role to play, and for me, it starts with representation, both within my business and who we work with externally. I’ve always aimed for inclusivity, but we all need to look inwards and be better. At Victoria Beckham, we’ve set up an internal working group as a first step and will provide additional support to ensure that we are listening to each other, discussing the issues, identifying unconscious bias in ourselves and ensuring our short and long-term actions reflect all our learnings. Whilst things won’t change or be solved in a day, we clearly can’t wait another day to start and I am absolutely committed to being better and doing more, both personally and professionally. I hope you all share my sentiment and are doing the same with your friends, family, brands and businesses so that we all play our part in this vital issue. x vb #blacklivesmatter

A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Jun 5, 2020 at 6:21am PDT

Talking about her fashion house, she expressed, “At Victoria Beckham, we have always striven to be inclusive, but we need to look inwards and be better.” She added that an internal working has been set up to look at everything, from “teams and talent…casting, suppliers and partners”.

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Beckham announced an additional team training and support at her label to “discuss issues and identify unconscious bias”.

Talking about the current protests after Floyd’s death, she wrote, “Watching things unfold and learning more about the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve been truly sickened by how deeply ingrained racism is in our society.”

With the awareness that the problem of racism would not be solved overnight, people should at least take their first positive step towards promoting inclusivity, Beckham urged. “Whilst things won’t change or be solved in a day, we clearly can’t wait another day to start and I am absolutely committed to being better and doing more, both personally and professionally. I hope you all share my sentiment and are doing the same with your friends, family, brands and businesses so that we all play our part in this vital issue,” she said.