Paco Rabanne is the most exciting thing in Paris
ABC Life Style, Feb-09,2016
Rabanne retired in 1999, his house floundering somewhat but churning out best-selling perfume – its men's scent, Invictus, is the UK's best-selling male fragrance, replacing 1 Million, another Rabanne. The succession of designers has been less assured: in the early 2000s, US designer Patrick Robinson took the helm; then Indian-born Manish Arora; then Lydia Maurer, a rather anonymous French designer who formerly worked at Givenchy. Arora came closest to the styles of a designer dubbed “Wacko Paco”, with dresses made from pleated paper and flying-saucer Philip Treacy hats. Maurer was ousted in favour of Julien Dossena in 2013.
And here's where the story gets interesting. Dossena is a disciple of Nicolas Ghesquière, latterly of Louis Vuitton but for 15 years the head of Balenciaga, where his work was universally acclaimed for a fusion of the technologically advanced, the historically reverent and the currently relevant. It's a tough mix to get right. Dossena was rumoured to be up for the Balenciaga gig – as if to nix the rumours, Ghesquière and his right-hand woman, the stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé, sat front-row at Dossena's spring show. They also both turned up to the cocktail and dinner held during couture week to inaugurate Rabanne's Paris store.
Said boutique is brutalist, metal-clad, with harshly lit white shelving. It looks like a cross between a hyper-modern library and the cargo bays on Red Dwarf. Dossena's clothes are similar fusions of utility and austerity, decorative metal mesh jangling against bog-standard sweatshirting. Some garments are a bit sci-fi, with zips and scuba detailing and the occasional go-faster stripe pasted incongruously across the midriff. All in all, it's a strange bunch of stuff – the metal and techy materials lassoing it to the Rabanne legacy of Barbarella tin-foil frocks, but with something of the late 1970s and early 1980s in the proportions.
More than anything else, what Dossena's work reminds me of most is the early days of Nicolas Ghesquière's Balenciaga. Not in terms of direct aesthetic reference, but in spirit. It reminds me of women fighting to get Ghesquière's skinny cargo trousers, studded and distressed leather bags and slender-cut jackets, because they concisely elucidated the often-opaque notion of cool, reactivating the then-dusty Balenciaga label for the present. You feel the same at Paco Rabanne, right now. It doesn't happen often, but it's exciting to watch it unfold.
Five facts that show how the advertising industry fails women
ABC Life Style, Feb-06,2016
Women are the most powerful consumers on the planet, making 85% of all purchasing decisions. Across any sector you can think of – technology, cars, houses, pharmaceuticals – women hold the household purse strings.
In the advertising industry, however, there are very few female creative directors making the adverts that women see. In 2008, just 3.6% of the world’s creative directors were female. Since then it has tripled to 11%; in London, my research shows, the figure is about 14% – still shockingly low.
Unsurprisingly, according to research, 91% of female consumers feel advertisers don’t understand them. Seven in 10 women go further to say they feel “alienated” by advertising. Men overwhelmingly dominate creative departments and their output, which can’t be good for creativity, audiences or the way adland solves business issues.
I know this firsthand, having worked as a creative director in the industry for 15 years. Over that time female representation in creative departments has barely changed: I can the count the female executive creative directors I know on my fingers. That’s why I founded Creative Equals, an initiative to provide more pathways to critical leadership roles for female creatives, by tackling culture change with charters for industry, recruitment and agencies.
To discover how the lack of female creative leads affects young women coming into the industry, we put out a survey with the Young Creative Council, an organisation supporting young creatives coming into the industry. The results say it all.
1) 88% of young female creatives say they lack role models
If you flick through the industry magazines you’ll see very few senior female faces. We’re asking award shows to consider split-gender judging panels, diverse speakers and to make sure images in the press are consciously diverse. This month, two of the industry’s organisations, Creative Circle and the British Interactive Media Association have signed up to these pledges.2) 70% of young female creatives says they have never worked with a female creative director or executive creative director
With so few mentors within the business, young female creatives don’t receive the right skills, advice and tools to help them climb the ladder. Studies show this alone means they’re more likely to leave in their first year, so providing mentors – male (because there are so few female) or female - at this junior level is critical.3) 70% of young female creatives are working in a 75% male-dominated department
In 2016, in most creative departments, female creatives find themselves the unsupported minority.4) 60% of young females say they believe advertising is a career that doesn’t support young families
With late nights and long hours perceived as standard in creative departments, many see advertising as a career they can’t sustain with a young family. Advertising agencies need to provide flexible working conditions, job shares and ‘returnships’ to encourage women who leave to come back so the industry doesn’t lose these valuable perspectives.5) 10% of young male creative are working in an all-male department
Yes, there are departments that solely employ men. Diversity has recently been a trending topic in adland, but without a real mandate to change it will fail. While awards ceremonies are the public face of the industry, recruiters are the pipeline. What can they do to drive diversity?Hire on potential, not achievement. Studies show many women won’t apply for a role until they meet 100% of the hiring criteria and women are hired on proof they can do a job, so female creatives are in a double-bind: if they’re not achieving “rock star” status, they’re not considered, even if they have the potential to fulfil the role.
Actively promote female creatives. A friend applied for an executive creative directorship last year. Sixty CVs were put forward; two were female. To change the ratio, recruiters have a responsibility to put forward a gender diverse consideration set for every role. We’re asking for one in three CVs, with the shortfall coming from the rung below.
Promote a gender neutral face. Recruiters need to commit to gender-neutral language and non-gender specific jobs.
Aside from industry awards and recruitment, real change comes from agencies that retain more women within their creative ranks. I’m working with AnalogFolk, JWT, Mr President, Formation London and a number of other top agencies to create tools, training and support for female creatives.
I believe with more women directing the ads our powerful audience of female consumers see, we can change the way women are portrayed in the media, be culturally relevant as an industry and create a fresh type of advertising.
