[Source: AP]

Milan Fashion Week highlighted diversity and in a new initiative that aims to promote inclusion across the industry and the return of a showcase for underrepresented designers as five days of mostly womenswear previews for Fall-Winter 2024-25 got underway on Wednesday.

An agreement signed Tuesday by the Italian fashion council, a governmental anti-discrimination office, and a nonprofit promoting African fashion seeks to “trace, identify and fight” discriminatory practices. The initiative will start with a broad survey to create a snapshot of the representation of women, people of color and other underrepresented groups across the industry, from fashion houses to suppliers.

The president of the Italian National Fashion Chamber, Carlo Capasa, told The Associated Press that he hopes to have results in a year.

Capasa said he was approached by Premier Giorgia Meloni ’s anti-discrimination office for the initiative “to understand what can be done better,” tapping the fashion industry as a closely watched agent of change in society.