I’ve been working as a designer in some fashion for more than two decades—as an employee and as an entrepreneur, in small studios and in large agencies, and at tiny startups and late-stage enterprises. What I’ve seen is that as an industry, we are teeming with progressive-leaning professionals, most of whom would avidly applaud the idea of greater diversity and inclusion in design workplaces.
But if I’m honest, I can only count a handful of times that I’ve worked with an African American, Hispanic, or Native American designer at any level. The reality of the design industry is that we’re homogenous—overwhelmingly white.Creative careers elude people of color - Khoi Vinh
My experiences from a career that span over the same amount of time are very similar to Khoi's. Although Sweden's immigration policies have been generous over the years, I can count the times I've worked with people from the Middle East or former Yugoslavia on one hand.