This month a former Superdry knitwear designer won a case against the clothing retailer for unfair dismissal and direct discrimination on the grounds of age.
Rachel Sunderland, aged 56, was deemed a low “flight risk” from the company compared to younger members of staff and would stay “no matter how she was treated”, an employment tribunal heard. As a result, she was repeatedly passed over for promotion in favour of other colleagues with less experience until she felt forced to resign, the court found.
The hearing highlighted that ageism in the fashion industry worryingly still exists and stressed the need to combat the stereotyping and/or discrimination against people because of their age.
We want to use the Drapers platform to give a voice to those who have directly or indirectly experienced or witnessed instances of age discrimination within the fashion retail industry.
We are asking our audience to share their experiences in this confidential survey, and we will investigate how ageism manifests itself within fashion retail in the UK and Ireland, and hope to make headway in answering how ageist fashion retail is, and what can be done to eradicate this.