Diversity in all sizes
How many times have you gone into a shop to buy new clothes, only to find that the dress you loved in the window just doesn’t quite fit your body shape? Being a size zero is no longer a fashion statement, as top fashion houses like Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton have pledged to stop using underage and size zero models. This is causing all fashion brands to change their thinking and understand the needs and fit of 21st century woman. They are slowly adjusting their catwalk shows and sizing to reflect realistic shapes and sizes.
Part of embracing diverse employment and a multicultural workplace, however, is also acknowledging that every body is different. What we wear to work has a big impact on how we feel and how we present ourselves. To Fashionizer Spa, inclusivity and diversity in the workplace informs the way we design our spa and hospitality uniforms for men and women, making sure that staff feel confident and comfortable in their uniforms.
However, when it comes to the brief for designing uniforms, we still find that some spa managers have a habit of dreaming that all of their female staff will look like Jessica Rabbit and Zac Efron.
What diversity and inclusion really mean?
Like fashion, the hospitality industry is changing, and diversity is essential if you wish to get the best team working at your property. In this regard, diversity is comprised of lot of different factors; different cultures, religions, ages, backgrounds….and body shapes. Having a diverse recruitment policy has been proven to generate an overall more successful business, enabling a spa team to benefit from the potential of employees combining different cultures, skills and talents.
At Fashionizer, our own employees have always been a diverse bunch, currently from Greece, Spain, Africa, the U.S. and of course the U.K. We believe this adds clarity to our own cultural understanding, apart from the benefit of sharing cultural phrases and exclusive treats brought back to the office whenever team members visit home.
It’s not just personal, it’s professional
In the Fashionizer Spa world, we understand these issues. That’s why we design uniforms to suit and fit the people who are going to wear them, rather than the other way around. We design for real people, the average, normal individuals of all ages, shapes and sizes from around the world. Uniforms have to reflect the diverse employment strategies of our clients and they have to look sophisticated, be comfortable, durable and enable movement while working.
As a case in point, our project for Zuri Zanzibar, an incredibly bright environment where local culture sits front and center in everything they do. The hotel is known for caring about the wellbeing of its team, and uniforms are no exception. The Fashionizer team went to the resort where we measured each employee before creating the patterns and size structure for the garments, which ensured these worked for all staff profiles.
Diversity is a trend that is here to stay, keeping our design team on their toes. Ensuring that you will be seeing many more different and exciting new ideas for our bespoke uniforms in the future, new styles that are practical and made to fit a variety of body shapes and sizes.