At first glance it seems the boutique, which spans … She said the company has enhanced its online presence with "digital selling tools" and will launch an artificial intelligence tool this month to help customers with size and fit optimization based on their measurement data and preferences. Francis called this a “serious moment of reckoning” during which companies need to move beyond statements, and make meaningful changes internally. Your time is valuable. The Vancouver-based company behind the TNA, Babaton and Wilfred brands reported a net loss of $900,000 on revenue of $200 million in the 13-week period ended Aug. 30, beating analyst expectations for a net loss of $5.3 million on revenue of $191 million, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv. Jennifer Wong is 49, she's been the President, Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Secretary, and Director of Aritzia since 2016. View Jennifer Wong’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Other users on Twitter and Instagram also responded to Aritzia’s donation announcement, recounting incidents in which they, as staff, were told to follow young Black customers around the store until they left. Zimmermann requested the model apologize. Santiago, who is Black, denied their request for a call, instead publishing her issues with the brand. Celine has yet to respond or comment on the allegations. “Stop speaking. Audio for this article is not available at this time. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Anthropologie followed up with a post of a black square and then some promises of action they’ll take. We apologise to all those that have been hurt by our failure to adequately protect against discrimination and are truly sorry that we have not lived up to these expectations. Popular Vancouver-based clothing chain Aritzia has launched an investigation after a former store manager publicly called out the company for how she says she was treated as an employee. These conversations are important, and it’s vital that employees and customers have the opportunity to voice their experiences about these brands—many of which profit from Black culture—so we can decide whether we continue to support them with our dollars. A post shared by Reformation (@reformation) on Jun 15, 2020 at 1:27pm PDT, In an email to FLARE, the brand referred to the previous social media posts, adding: “Reformation [has] no further comment at this time.”. “People have recognized in a moment now that maybe there’s a space where we can move from talk to action,” Francis, who is also the Hogan’s Alley Society co-chair, added. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The makeup portion features an exhaustive list of beauty products aimed at achieving a glow like Romee Strijd or Candace Swanepoel, but the hair section is where things get really problematic. Fashion retailer Aritzia Inc. has reopened all the stores it closed due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in March, *but ongoing related issues are blamed for* lower revenue and a net loss in its most recent fiscal quarter. Aritzia's optimism about the upcoming holiday season is tempered by recent increases in COVID-19 positive case rates and new government restrictions in some of its key markets, Hill cautioned. One such instance, Sanchez says, occurred during her first week on the job, when the Ban.do group went for lunch. On June 4, a former employee shared insight from her time working for the online brand. In the comment section, oblivious fans clamored for it to be released as a t-shirt or a poster. Here’s how we’re doing it, starting now. The decline in quarterly revenue was mainly due to ongoing COVID-19 occupancy restrictions, reduced operating hours and partial boutique closures, Aritzia said, partially offset by continued momentum from e-commerce revenue, which increased by 82.3 per cent from the year-earlier period. “Audit yourself,” Francis said. •, A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Jun 8, 2020 at 1:06pm PDT, And in the hair section of the manual, language is worded in such a way that seems aimed to exclude Black employees and their natural hair or cultural hairstyles. On June 23, Brother Vellies founder Aurora James announced the extension of her Fifteen Percent Pledge to Canada, urging Canada’s major retailers like Hudson’s Bay, Holt Renfrew, Loblaws and Maison Simons to commit 15% of their buying budgets and shelf-space to BIPOC-owned businesses by July 1. The company is already starting to hire and train staff for the Christmas season — its most important sales period, said president Jennifer Wong on the call. On the southeast corner of Broadway and Spring in New York City’s stylish SoHo neighbourhood is the Canadian clothing store, Aritzia. BY DARLA MURRAY. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Founder Yael Aflalo reportedly judged and ignored Santiago, who was denied company growth opportunities. Never with white youth. This is my account of my time working with @jengotch at @shopbando the slides that follow my statement are one recent conversation (though I hear more have messaged her now) in which my friend and former co-worked tried to hold Jen/ Ban.do accountable and was met with an evasive response. “I was…given only cashier shifts, which kind of didn’t make much sense,” Lewis recalled. We owe it to the Black community to make changes at Ref. The instances of unacceptable behaviour at our company and in our business practices that contributed to the broader problem of systemic racism do not represent our values, and we are taking immediate actions to fix this. Email Address * Country * ” Lewis said. After first posting an apology on Reformation’s Instagram page, Aflalo announced on June 12 that she’ll be stepping down as the brand’s CEO, effective immediately. police dog who has helped crack some of the province’s worst murders, Residents find queen 'murder hornet' in B.C. Its famous neighbours include fashion industry powerhouses like Prada, H&M and Bloomingdales. Lewis, who quit Aritzia in February, said she also remembered being asked to vacuum the store twice, a task she didn’t see other managers perform. Her first February with the company, a strategy team member posted a selfie with another woman eating fried chicken, captioned with “Happy black history month!!”. And a peek behind the curtain shows that racism within the company may be deeply entrenched. Make real change.”. According to Lewis, this could include Black customers. "As a result of keeping all of our people employed during the shutdown, and starting to plan our reopening as soon as we closed our doors, we were able to reopen our boutiques quickly and efficiently," he said. Per @diet_prada, the “Grooming & Presentation Standards” portion of the retail employee manual (which ex-employees claim was circulated up until September 2019) shows that Black women are completely absent, with stars like Olivia Palermo and several white Victoria’s Secret Angels featured as examples of the “standard” look employees should model themselves after. We are focused on listening, learning, and taking action, recognizing we ourselves must lead and inspire change.”, Wong added that the company is investing $1 million to expand and strengthen its Diversity and Inclusion programs as part of “real and significant” action to create “positive change.”. In response to Lewis’ concerns over her cashier shifts, lack of manager shifts, and that she was asked to vacuum the store, an Aritzia spokesperson added: “Regardless of title or the task, we are all expected to do whatever needs to get done. pic.twitter.com/oCYSDhThNv. “I’ve been here a long time—people here weren’t even born when I started,” says Jennifer Wong, president and COO of Canadian fashion and design house, Aritzia.At the buzzing Vancouver headquarters, the airy and bright interior contrasts with Wong’s impeccably cool gym attire, an all-black matching affair boasting the company’s on-site fitness centre branding. David Molko Full Disclaimer. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2020. The model complained to her agency, and was temporarily dismissed until her agent resolved the issue. While Lewis said she didn’t experience any overt discrimination by her colleagues, as the only Black manager on the team, she felt left out of some work meetings and social invitations by her co-workers. View Jennifer Wong’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. '”. During Slimane’s tenure with Celine thus far, Black models have been severely under-represented on the runway. A post shared by Anthropologie (@anthropologie) on Jun 1, 2020 at 6:42am PDT, While some fans of the brand initially replied with calls for the phrase to be printed on a shirt or poster and sold *in* Anthropologie stores (and applauded the company for a #BlackOutTuesday post on June 2), it wasn’t long before many people started to call the brand out for their hypocrisy, with former employees alleging that they’d been “trained” to watch Black shoppers and follow them around the store, a claim that was supported by several Black shoppers.