Where is the diversity in the Interior Design Industry?
A call out from the two hosts of The Great Indoors podcast, Sophie Robinson and Kate Watson-Smyth, prompted to share my thoughts on the diversity within the design industry. I have to say, I’d much rather go about my life and top up my knowledge and serve clients, however, keeping my opinions to myself does nothing.
Of course, the call to action has not come about by chance. Sparked by the current uproar of racial inequalities after the world witnessed George Floyd inhaling his last breath as the knee of a Police Officer robbed him of his future. I am only too aware of the quieter period the world is going through with COVID-19, which has amplified the call for change.
The cost of wanting to be in an industry when you’re likely to go unseen.
I’m lucky to have bypassed the student debt to study to become an interior designer, but many don’t. So imagine finishing 3 or 4 years of hard work and being eager to dive deep into your career only to find little in the way of opportunities. Sure it is no secret the competition is fierce, but studies have highlighted that racial bias exists in the process of recruitment. The competition gets less hopeful before you even forward a copy of your CV.
As the podcast revealed, and I have heard in the social media space, there are unfortunate occurrences of Black, Asian and Ethnic minorities’ talents going to waste and choosing to either not enter the industry or make a sharp exit shortly after arriving. After the hard work of studying, where do they go? This current diversity uproar has highlighted that interior design is not the only industry that lacks an array of people of colour.
Trades shows and the palaver of being taken seriously
I’ve navigated design shows as a student as well as a qualified interior designer, doing the rounds alone, with white designers, and with other designers of colour.
Each time I arrived at the sea of designers, suppliers were rife with white people. Dotted around are a few non-white people, more likely to be representing a supplier or being part of the trade show staff (security, waitresses) than being designers or architects. I suppose it is very familiar of this apportionment as I witnessed in school and in the workplaces I’ve been to before.
What I encounter differs according to who I’m with.
With white designers
Suppliers readily have a conversation generally towards the person I’m with rather than directing a response at me. When it comes to asking for further information or to be scanned to receive further information, I’m not scanned or handed over a brochure until I state that I require my own copy. Which prompts an apology that they thought we must be working together.
with other people of colour
Sample snubbed is what I’ll call it. When asking for samples there’s a reluctance to be provided with any or it has been clarified that only design professionals are eligible. 1 small clue that I’m a design professional is that we’re both standing in the middle of a trade show. This is further backed up by the printed name tag which generally states my name, job title and company name, as well as the magic word TRADE.
Too often it is assumed that 2 or more people of colour work together and are not individual companies, so again only one of us will get scanned. As for the samples, the next hoop is whether I have a trade account.
Alone
Circulating a show alone can be a lonely venture yet very productive. The interaction with suppliers can be anything from being blanked and the exhibitor bypassing my presence to speak to a white enquirer, to being talked to in disbelief that not only am I an interior designer, but also have my own business.
I can laugh now, but the following story remains in the forefront of my mind.
As many designers do, during a Trade Preview at Chelsea Harbour I went to see a selection of showrooms with the aim of seeing their new collections. One particular supplier showed very little interest as I walked around their showroom. I guess for an introvert like myself being left alone to go through fabric collection isn’t exactly a bad thing, however, you have to wonder what the company’s strategies are when not one single person bats so much as an eyelid at your presence.
And now comes a time when I need assistance in obtaining samples and expressing my interest in using products in projects. The showroom assistant politely says she’ll get the samples out in the post and asks what company I represent.
As soon as The Church Of England left my mouth, the whole energy in the room shifted. It was as if the champagne was freshly delivered from a vineyard since it magically appeared in my hands before I could sit comfortably in the seat they offered me.
Apparently, I had now become interesting enough to entertain. So much so the showroom manager was summoned from wherever he was before and the illusive assistants swooned around me to source whatever number of samples I required.
Now this can be seen as a positive experience, rolling out the red carpet but as was evident before anyone gave a damn what company I represented, not one single soul considered the value of someone making their way through the showroom. And this is one of the issues that pop up time and time again.
The Ideal
When you look at me, who am I? I mean, beyond my blackness. Just like anyone else., I have many layers to my being and to judge me solely on the basis of the colour of my skin leaves you without the opportunity to know my talents, thoughts and experience. The same goes for other designers of colour like:
It is tiring fighting for an equal chance to be seen beyond the colour of your skin. The preference would go towards time designing interiors. But the momentary pause to start the ball rolling it shift the landscape in the right direction is an opportunity we didn’t even see at the start of the year.
I’ve been presumed white on many occasions until we meet face to face since my name is not an obvious giveaway.
Perhaps I should have made a tally chart to mark the number of times I’ve been directed to the cheaper product ranges and it being empathised that a range is very expensive. Even when I’m only seen as a consumer, there seems to be a belief that higher-priced products are beyond my reach.
When this happens I’m happy to walk myself out the door and splash the cash in other places. Of course, this isn’t always possible when designing on behalf of clients, which leaves a taste of dis-ease.
The market is saturated to a point that there is plenty of opportunity to source products and pay attention to suppliers that aren’t as rude. You should not underestimate what the future holds and throwing the potential of business aside is not the savviest way to do business.
Cultural curiosity
My eyes could easily glaze over at the increasingly generic words “I’m listening, I’m learning”. I’ve read it as a sign of hope, but have also taken it with a dose of doubt. After all, we are not on our first round of newfound realisations that diversity matters.
There’s a myriad of books to dive into, courses being offered and online circles to begin understanding what Black people have been saying for years. The offerings are encouraging. The same, however, is needed for other cultures and communities.
A snippet of my response was read out on the Great Indoors Podcast, but for you, here are my full thoughts:
“It’s difficult to know where to begin with the subject of diversity within the interior design industry.
Firstly, I wonder how we’re only now arriving at a point of considering how diverse the industry is. Does it really take the fallout from the brutal murder of a black man in the midst of a global pandemic to bring this issue to white people’s attention?
This is not the first time Black Lives Matter has gained traction after all. Plus inclusion and diversity in the workplace have been hot topics in the news in recent years. Yet none of this motivated any sort of action?
What I’ve found from talking to other black designers, is that coming into the interior space is very much an intentional vocational choice. It was never presented as a career option at school. I wasn’t inspired by seeing a black designer on TV or in magazines. Nor was I born into the industry because a family happened to be in a related field of work.
I am here because there is a fundamental importance of having a sense of belonging, and that starts within your own home especially when I’ve experienced racism since childhood.
When you go into an industry intentionally you most certainly have a high level of excitement and passion. Something that you have to hold on to when you start to notice who occupies the space.
I guess I can say I looked in vain for representation. On the odd occasion, I might stumble across a black designer or maker. At this point I would make an effort to go to their website, partly to see what type of environments they designed, but also to read up on their route into the industry. Knowing that someone who you can identify with actually made it into the work you want to venture into makes it feel possible.
My own arrival into the built environment came through studying interior design and being encouraged by my tutors to attend trade shows. Here is where I was exposed to what appears to be a glamorous world from the outside looking in. This actually brings a level of discomfort because at every event it was easy to notice I’m in a room full of white people. Nice and welcoming people who know one another.
It was always appreciated being advised tips on breaking into the industry but all the advice you’re given falls short when you’re snubbed for being a student. Even after qualifying the barriers shifts to being that you’re new.
I’ve looked at leaders in the field at trade shows, including those on panel talks. I make an effort to check out their profile on show websites and rarely see black representation. At this point, you can either assume black people simply have nothing to do with the interiors industry, or they are part of the staff that don’t pop along to the London Design Festival and the like. I know we certainly live in, and see value in decorating, our homes.
Interactions give a slight insight into how I’m seen. As a consumer, until I show my trade pass it’s assumed that I’m someone in the wrong place.
But social media paints a different view. This is where I came across the myriad of black designers in the US, I was welcomed into their fold which gave me the extra encouragement that I can actually carve the design out as a career. In recent years the organisation Black Artist & Designer’s Guild alongside the magazine Curated Quarters were established as a point of reference for people to purposefully find black creatives to hire, collaborate with or simply be exposed to. Not just in America, but worldwide including the UK.
Of course, I remain hopeful the industry will evolve and actively become more inclusive. The way I see it, there’s a split in the interior’s world. On one side there’s the BIID type of designer and those who carve another pathway into the industry and shudder at the thought of spending the day at Decorex as it’s somewhat stuffy and straight-laced. Maybe because their perspective on who should occupy the interior design space differs but for black interior designers the non-BIID route seems to be the accessible option, at the peril of being snubbed by the other group.
And since that’s where the big stage opportunities lie, you risk not being as seen in a professional capacity simply because the side you’re on isn’t taken seriously”.
Do take a LISTEN TO THE EPISODE and hear views from other people of colour. In fact, one designer alongside of the hosts, Kate from Mad About the House has put together a pledge. The Design for Diversity pledge
National Inclusion & Diversity Week
In light of newfound realisations that diversity and inclusion are topics of concern, I can’t help but wonder how effective the campaigns have been. After all, Inclusion and Diversity Week has been around since the 1980s as has Black History Month.
It is a difficult subject, I’ve heard this sentence to death and no doubt will subject my ears to it for some time yet.
It is great to incorporate elements into a home that stem from other cultures, but it would be respectful to take the time to do your research about the very culture you pick your wares from.
