Today we’re celebrating International Women’s Day 2022. Image via Adobe Stock.
Women uplifting other women is powerful, and today on International Women’s Day (IWD) we’re celebrating how far we’ve come as wāhine and also, what we can do to #BreakTheBias which is this year’s event theme. For us, this topic is personal as FashioNZ was founded by a woman, is currently owned and run by women and has been dedicated to you, our mostly female audience since launching online in 1998.
In Aotearoa, the fashion industry is also powered by wāhine across every type of role from the boardroom to the workroom, and yet because fashion is seen as ‘women’s interest’ it’s not taken seriously by some despite being an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Women’s salaries in many areas are still not equal to men’s and that is amplified when it comes to women of colour. Make no mistake, whether it’s deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead and knowing that bias exists isn’t enough anymore, we need action to level the playing field.
One of the reasons International Women’s Day exists it to provide an opportunity to reinforce the fact that everyone has a role to play in forging a more gender-balanced world. While we’re celebrating the achievements of wāhine we’re also calling for gender parity and asking everyone to actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping when you see it, racism, ableism and ageism play a part in that too. Every bit matters and collectively makes a difference in paving the way forward.
By lifting women up, we’re not asking for men to fall, we’re asking for allyship and understanding from men that these issues still exist and will continue to exist until everyone recognises them and makes an effort to break the bias. It is possible but requires continued action and shouldn’t have to fall to wāhine to try and make change as everyone has a part to play.
As history has progressed, men’s and women’s roles in society have become more varied and gender roles are more fluid. Now, we’re finally in a time where much of the world expects diversity, equity and inclusion. We notice its absence and rightfully celebrate its progress and presence. It has been fought hard for and while we have come a long way there is more yet to go to create an equitable world that is free of bias.
In fashion, we continue to see increasing diversity in the representation and celebration of women which is powerful. Celebrating all bodies in every way matters and helps to break down the idealised beauty standards that women have been pressured to conform to for so long. When we lift each other up and are proud of what makes us unique we reclaim our power and reinforce that wāhine can be and do anything. We are so much more than what our bodies look like, I don’t think that can be emphasised enough.
As part of that idea, fashion should be a way to celebrate your style and something to have fun with and make you feel confident, not something to try and shrink you or make you feel bad about yourself. The number on the label has zero to do with your self worth and it’s been great to see more designers and brands embracing making clothing for a wider range of sizes and bodies. Everyone deserves to wear clothing they feel good in and that celebrates their identity and style.
In previous years, we’ve been fortunate enough to gather together a group of wāhine for an International Women’s Day portrait session and got them to answer questions on why it matters for women to lift each other up, the challenges facing women and how each year’s theme resonates with them? Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible this year with the current situation but you can find our stories online from 2021 and 2020 if you want to have a read of what those inspiring women think.
I don’t think that celebrating women could be considered performative when it’s done with the genuine intention of lifting women up. We deserve to celebrate each other and learn from one another’s ideas and views, we each have a different experience of being a woman and all of those experiences matter. One of the things we do all the time on FashioNZ is tell women’s stories, which we’ve done hundreds of so far, and it’s one of the best things of having this platform. If we could we would gather together every single woman who worked in fashion in Aotearoa together to share their stories all at once, as there are so many talented wāhine doing wonderful things every day and their creativity, mahi and intelligence is truly inspiring.
Today, we’re celebrating every woman, from our mothers, to our sisters, family, friends, colleagues and all those who inspire us and lead the way forward. Let’s keep showing the world what we’re capable of and work every day on breaking the bias for the women who paved the way before us, the women who stand alongside us, and the women who will come after us.
Special shout out to our wonderful FashioNZ women past and present who have built this platform that is proud to have championed women from the beginning – Carolyn, Meagan, Charlotte, Ava, Nina, Anya, Linda, Yagmur, Danielle, Sophie, Nicky, Natalie, Petrina, Miranda, Julie and many more. Thank you for everything.