Does Fashion Have a Problem With Women in Power?

Why female designers face harsher scrutiny than their male counterparts?

It wasn't with quiet applause or benevolent farewells when Virginie Viard's stint at Chanel recently came to an end. Her departure was instead marked by a storm of cruel memes and sharp commentary. Her five-year tenure at the helm of Chanel saw 16% revenue growth in 2023, but rarely did her collections attract any praise. Critics called her work uninspired—a call that must be debated—but why did it have to happen with such disdain?

This is not the first incident. Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior, with collections successfully stamped out semester after semester, becomes the focus of veiled jabs over feminist messaging. Alexander McQueen favorite of her clients, Sarah Burton, is gone. Industry star Clare Waight Keller languishes on the sidelines save for a line for Uniqlo. Where Phoebe Philo has just launched her own label, the majority of the luxury womenswear brands are still being led by men-designers that often end up crafting for fantasies rather than real women with busy lives.

Women in fashion deserve criticism when it is due. No one deserves to love a collection solely because it is designed by a woman. But there is a clear trend: women are criticized more harshly, promoted less often, and dealt with more ruthlessly than their male counterparts.

Bigger Problem of Sexism at the Top

It's not unique to the fashion world. Repeated studies show women are undervalued in the workplace. A study conducted by Yale, MIT, and the University of Minnesota discovered that women in a very large retail chain were 14% less likely to be promoted than men, even though the performance showed them as always rated higher.

The numbers in fashion paint a similar picture. Within the US, just 35.3% of creative directors are women, earning 93% of what their male counterparts make. At LVMH's top six womenswear brands, only Dior's Maria Grazia Chiuri breaks the male dominance in creative leadership. Over at Kering, Francesca Bellettini of Saint Laurent is the lone woman among the top 10 CEOs and creative directors across its biggest brands.

Veteran executive Mimma Viglezio, who has run the show at Bulgari, LVMH, and Kering, remembers the times when gender biases played out during her career. At Gucci Group, for instance, an eight-member executive team included five women, but it always seemed like women were passed over for the top job. "Whenever we would decide on a CEO for a smaller brand, the men in the room wouldn't even ask us women if we were interested," she says.

Even well-intentioned leaders, like Gucci Group's former CEO Robert Polet were oblivious to these biases. When Viglezio confronted him on being overlooked from the consideration, he admitted not having thought of her for the role. "It wasn't in the culture of those middle-aged white men," she explains.

The Double Standards of Creative Leadership

The harsh treatment of women leaders in fashion reveals more than just bias; it tells one about the priorities of that industry. Luxury brands, says designer Gabriela Hearst and CEO Marysia Woroniecka of Maria Cornejo's label, are often after spectacle over substance. "Big shows are meant to sell the sunglasses and bags," Woroniecka says. The hype machine, she argues, is fueled by "very male energy" focused on high-margin accessories rather than well-designed clothing for real women.

However, female-fronted labels keep on doing and becoming more brilliant. A protégé of Philo, Veronica Leoni brings thoughtful design back to Calvin Klein. Chemena Kamali has become a "dark horse" after her recent collection for Chloé as it was incredibly elegant and wearable. And here are designers such as Philo, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen at The Row, and Jil Sander who make great followers by putting women's needs first.

According to Tory Burch, "female leaders are constantly diminished in some way." At a business summit, she was introduced not as a CEO but as a 'female CEO', said the chief executive of Tory Burch herself, insisting that the means to this ability consist of self-belief and resilience.

The Cost of Exclusion

The absence of women in top creative roles isn’t just a moral failing—it’s a missed opportunity. Studies link gender-diverse leadership to better stock performance, higher returns on equity, and stronger valuations. Yet the industry continues to undervalue female talent, leaving us to wonder how many visionary designers we’ve never seen because they weren’t given a chance.

Virginie Viard’s tenure at Chanel, while not as extravagant as Karl Lagerfeld’s, was marked by steady craftsmanship and growth. Yet her contributions were met with far less fanfare than her predecessor’s. Lagerfeld’s iconic sets and celebrity-packed casts often overshadowed the actual clothes—clothes that Viard helped design.

It's fair to ask: why does fashion appear allergic to women in power? And what would the industry look like if more women were allowed to lead?

The path to gender equality in fashion still has a long way to go, certainly. But as brands come around to valuing authenticity and substance over spectacle, maybe women will finally start getting the critical attention they deserve.