Fashion Industry: What Women Can Change In CEO Positions

Fashion has long been for women and run just by men. In the fashion industry, it has been men who occupied the top positions at fashion companies— both on the creative side and, perhaps less surprisingly, on the financial.

Yet their impact is unquestionably high. women are the greatest influencers of new trends as they account for two-thirds of clothing sales around the world. According to Fashion Newest CEOs report, female leadership in the apparel industry has increased by 95 percent by 2020 but still, in stark contrast to 2020’s exceptional advances, the number of incoming female fashion CEOs dropped by 39.3%.

It was an achievement, harder than discovering the moon, to dismantle the masculine prejudice on which fashion was built and to change the rigid mindset of society. Charles James said "Women's bodies are inherently wrong, we must improve them with fashion."

It was a thought around which men model their aesthetic codes on women's bodies. With the arrival of Coco Chanel and the great women of the early days  this way of thinking was dismantled, paving the way for the idea we have today of fashion "a form of self expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context". This historical path shows that the problem is still the same: women did not have the opportunities of men, the landscape changes when they are able to access the same opportunities.

Certainly, there are many brands where women have played a leading role since the 1980s: Rei Kawakubo - Comme des Garçons, Vivienne Westwood, Donatella Versace, Miuccia Prada, Alberta Ferretti, and Rosita Missoni. Leaders of style and their own companies.

These are visionary and bold female entrepreneurs, inspirational role models for millions of young girls, women leaders who are leading the great change the fashion industry has undergone in the past year. Each woman leads and interprets this change according to a personal approach, but they all have one common trait: they challenge established structures and roles, and prioritize financial and social independence, for themselves and for the companies they have started or for which they hold significant roles.

Margherita is the young granddaughter of Ottavio Missoni, founder of the family fashion house in 1953. In addition to working as a brand ambassador since she was a teenager, in 2010 she took on the role of Missoni's accessories director, and since 2018 she has headed the brand's youngest line, M Missoni. 

After studying philosophy at Columbia University in New York, Margherita went on to study theater and starred in Jean Genet's stage production of The Maids. Her move to New York increased the number of her followers, and she was often featured on covers in which she always wore only Missoni clothes. According to reports in Fashion Week Daily, for Margherita becoming the face of the family brand was a natural evolution.

In addition, the young designer was recently called by Max Mara to design a capsule collection of the young Max&Co line, unveiled during Milan Fashion Week.

A leading female entrepreneur par excellence of the Versace house, which we could not fail to mention in this list. Donatella Versace, following the death of her brother Gianni took over as artistic director of the Versace empire since 1997. Overseeing the growth of the group's luxury clothing lines along with expansion into accessories, home furnishings, and hotels, she created a luxury lifestyle brand estimated to reach $1.1 billion in sales by 2022.

As artistic director and vice chairman of the board, Donatella is responsible for the overall vision of the fashion house, from runway collections and limmage to global brand growth and development in the digital world.

Creator of the iconic Baguette bag, Silvia Venturini Fendi is creative director of Fendi's accessories, menswear and children's line and the only member of the family still working at the historic Italian company.

After completing her studies between Italy and England, Silvia worked in marketing in Los Angeles, launched the Fendissime secondary line in 1987, managed the brand's fashion shows and promotional activities, and has also been the designer of the men's collections since 2000. 

Thanks to the design of the baguette bag, she enabled the fashion house to win the Fashion Group International award for accessories in 2000. 

May 2022 marks  four years since Catherine Renier took over the post of CEO of Richemont Group brand Jaeger-LeCoultre. Previously, Renier had been with sister brand Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, but she was ready for a watch-only brand when she came aboard at Jaeger-LeCoultre.

She is implementing a new marketing campaign to communicate about the maison in several different ways, including from an experience view point and by telling the stories of the different artisans and watchmakers within the brand.