Dheeraj Khanna, Expert Fashion Consultant, talks about the white elephant of the fashion industry: is there a lack of diversity and inclusion among fashion designers? Dheeraj Khanna has been the head designer for Vince Camuto Men's, the head designer of Original Penguin Tailored, and the senior designer for Perry Ellis.
The fashion industry has long been an inherently exclusive industry that presents barriers to entry that deter social and geographical mobility. The late Virgil Abloh, head of menswear at Louis Vuitton, Olivier Rousteing, the Balmain designer, and Rhuigi Villasenor at Switzerland’s Bally are some of the notable few who highlighted how few artistic voices there are in fashion from minority backgrounds. The fashion industry made all the right diversity noises in the wake of the BLM protests in 2020, but it shouldn’t stop there. With fashion companies facing pressure from consumers, particularly younger ones, on diversity and sustainability, how and when will the face of fashion change?
Dheeraj Khanna, current brand management consultant for Robert Barakett, is one of the many designers that are fashion-forward but is kept behind closed doors. Mr. Khanna acknowledges all the changes made in recent years to the fashion industry; however, he believes that there still needs to be major reforms on the back end of the fashion world, and a voice that speaks up for the face of change.
A Real Designer comes around here in our little real-Design-corner to highlight some essentials when it comes to the industry and beyond, the vast fashion landscape of now, answering 5 questions and explaining things the right and un-common way. We are delighted and eager to show off that exceptional voice in those lines bellow.
All4design-design4all: Supply chain crisis, human rights and employee rights, environmental footprint: is it too late to reverse fashion policies in order to reform fashion as a truly sustainable industry?
Dheeraj Khanna: It is never too late to reverse course and head towards a more sustainable path in fashion. Currently fashion is one of the largest contributors to CO2 emissions but that can be changed through reexamining the practices at large in manufacturing and expectations of buyers and consumers. A lot of this is already happening at every level. Major brands such as Nike, Adidas, and H&M, amongst many others have set strict targets to have closed loop manufacturing within this decade. Textile mills and garment manufacturers now routinely provide standardized certifications to ensure responsible manufacturing across all steps of the supply chain. Consumers are now more and more scrutinizing all their purchase decisions and looking to purchase from companies that align with their mindset on climate change.
I think Gen-Z is leading the charge on the consumer front in becoming more conscious about their consumption. A lot more can be done but this is an entire paradigm change that is moving at macro societal level and even at the best of times it’s a slow process.
A4D-D4A: Is fashion education providing a solid foundation for designers nowadays in terms of technical skills (pattern cutting, textile engineering, sewing techniques) but also a familiarisation with the essential digital tools much needed for building a brand (coding, digital marketing, programming for intelligent multiverse commercial platforms and NFTs)?
D.K.: Well, it’s been a while since I have been out of school but fashion school can only go so far. If one takes the proper courses then yes, they will gain the technical knowledge but I personally don’t know of anyone in the apparel industry and I supposed that’s true of many other industries as well, where college experience directly lead to immediate understanding and mastery of their first job. You learn as you go. Fashion design and apparel manufacturing is such a dynamic process and in a sense you never really leave a school. You’re always learning because there’s always new techniques, or processes or software, or materials being introduced to let you expand your creativity further.
Coding, digital marketing, programming for multiverse and NFTs are still largely outside the purview of fashion design. Lot more companies are embracing these new platforms through collaborations with artists or companies that already exist within this space. They can be a fantastic venue for brand awareness or connecting with consumers.
A4D-D4A: As a fashion designer you are a citizen of the world but also a person with a very strong cultural heritage behind you, when it comes to garment aesthetics. Which are your references when you create a collection?
D.K.: As someone who has spent his career working for other companies or brand my own preference and my own heritage never really played a factor in my career. When you’re helping someone else achieve their vision it’s always about understanding their heritage and their sensibilities to best align with their vision for their brand. When you’re working under larger fashion houses then there are strict brand guidelines to follow.
I supposed I am more influenced by my parents than my ethnicity. Especially my mother. She always instilled a deep sense of taking pride in your work and fostering an attitude of respect, especially self-respect. Growing up in USA as an immigrant with very little knowledge of the language or the culture at large, there was a sense of self preservation, from which came focus and the practice of observation. Observing people, their actions, their attitudes, their tonal shifts. I think my philosophy towards designs stems from having to always be on a look out and see things other may have missed.
When creating a collection there’s always an internal discussion of how much of my own influence can I include into an existing aesthetic. If the brand I am working with or consulting on is already aligned with my own personal tastes than I ask myself how can timeless staples such a t-shirt be done differently. How to make something feel familiar yet new. All of these internal dialogues and constant questioning probably stems me having to constantly observe my surroundings as a child. Growing up in NYC I didn’t speak much English so I always had to deeply observe the people around me to make sure I wasn’t offending anyone or to look out for dangerous situations. I think that translates to constantly looking at things and asking myself “hmm…what’s the vibe here and what direction do I want this to go?”.
A4D-D4A: Is there anything you currently use or sth you experienced as a user/ customer such as: a tool, a game, an app, a piece of furniture or even a space that impressed you quite a bit recently?
D.K.: I am going to cheat a bit and say, as a “space”, Lucerne, Switzerland is phenomenal. I recently had the pleasure of visiting for the first time and just from an initial observer’s point of view – It’s absolutely incredible how Lucerne and the surrounding villages nearby have built a modern functioning city ALONG with nature instead of paving our natural flora and fauna to put up concrete parking lots. It’s a modern, vibrant that seamlessly blends into its geographical surroundings and does so in such a beautiful way that it feels like a fantasy land. I am sure the city has its own trials and tribulations but overall it was such a magnificent location to be in. Using Europe is a bit of a copout but I can’t think of another place in recent memory that started to reshape my opinions on city planning and urban sprawl.
A4D-D4A: Gender, colour and the Politics of Fashion: give us your own - positive, negative or other-definition of your private journey inside the fashion industry, as a human being and a civilian.
D.K.: This is a conflicting topic for me as I love this industry but very often it feels like this industry rewards those who look a certain way or act a certain way. Suffice to say I am very often the only one of my kind in most high level meetings. I have had the incredible fortune of having had great mentors, supervisors, and managers guide me and I’ve made lifelong friends but there is a quite of bit of work to be done in terms of inclusivity. Fashion brands have made great strides in welcoming inclusivity, promoting body positivity, addressing mental health, but that seems largely relegated to advertising. On the consumer front fashion brands have always been on the fore front of addressing social change and nurturing it but behind closed doors the effort is not as evident. I have been routinely looked over for promotions or sidelined for leadership positions because those in charge would rather have someone they’re more “familiar” with. I’d wager that lot of POC reading this can attest to this fact. Whether we’d like to address the inconvenient truth or not amongst ourselves but nepotism and favoritism is rampant in C-suite level positions in a lot of fashion companies. Of course the apparel business in not a singular monolith and in 2022 it’s more diverse than ever, but like it is with sustainability and global warming; as a society we can be doing so much more.
In this regard I, again, admire Gen-Z in their radical inclusion and forthright approach towards their interpersonal relationships. Maybe it’s a bromidic to state that I look at the generations behind me for positive examples on how to move forward as none of us are without bias or flaws. When it comes to design and streamlining processes I audit my own preconceived notions often and if more boards members of large fashion companies started doing that about their own role in actual inclusivity then we can start to see some magnificent changes and view points in fashion.
The talent is out there, we just have to willing to look beyond our own sphere.
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We thank Dheeraj so much for his time and we invite you to discover the many facets of the current fashion universe through his eyes and maybe also contemplate on the future of garment design, a future yet untold and probably with many surprises coming up for the industry and the consumers as well.
Until the next post,
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