DECENCY IS NOT A TREND

So it took until 2026 for the fashion world to discover the obvious: one should not use one’s position to abuse the most vulnerable. What a revolution! What audacity! Two luxury giants, one French and one Italian, now announce “zero tolerance,” as if respect, consent and the protection of minors were avant-garde concepts.

But really, since when do we need a charter to teach what everyone already knows? Fashion, which claims to dictate trends, seems to be several decades behind on decency.

We are told about training programs, written agreements, anonymous reporting. Wonderful! So adults need to be taught that a position of power gives no right over another person’s body. And protecting the anonymity of those who speak out is glaring proof of an industry where speaking up can still cost you your career! That was already the case in ‘40, and decidedly France never changes!

And what about this other discovery: at sixteen, one is still a minor! It took years for the luxury industry to realize that dressing teenagers as adults does not make them adults. The most dismaying thing is not the announcement of these measures. It is that they are still presented as progress.

Because the problem goes far beyond the runways. It sometimes begins in fashion schools and continues in agencies, studios and fashion houses, everywhere that some people confuse influence with impunity, and opportunity with submission. This industry, so quick to lecture on aesthetics, diversity and modernity, suddenly discovers the basic principles of human respect and good manners.

And, as always, it turns this belated awakening into a PR exercise. They draft. They sign. They publicize. They applaud. But decency is not an innovation, respect is not a trend, and morality does not need a Fashion Week to come into force. Fashion so loves to proclaim itself ahead of its time that perhaps it is time it stopped lagging behind on what matters most.

FM