Prada employees are to receive "sensitivity training" after recent racism controversies, with head designer and figurehead Miuccia Prada taking part in the training, too.
The agreement was reached yesterday as the brand signed a deal with the New York City Commission on Human Rights and will see Prada employees attend training to educate them on diversity and encourage them to develop employment opportunities in minority communities.
The move comes after an incident in December 2018, when the Italian fashion house displayed a range of "Pradamalia" figurines that looked like monkeys "in blackface" outside their New York City store.
After fierce and immediate criticism, Prada took down the figurines, claiming in a statement that they were intended to be "imaginary" figures and "not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface".
It's a rigorous move towards ensuring respect and diversity in high fashion, as the company's progress will be monitored by an external body over the next two years.
As well as this, the company has 120 days to appoint a diversity and inclusion officer, whose job it will be to check every product created by Prada before it's sold in the US market.
The deal isn't the first move in Prada towards greater inclusivity, as after the 2018 racism controversy the company set up a Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council in February 2019, with director Ava DuVernay and the artist Theaster Gates on board as chairs.
It's a significant development in the fashion industry, which has seen seemingly continuous accusations of racism leveled at major fashion houses. In February 2019 Gucci pulled a black balaclava-style jumper with large red lips around the mouth that some saw as a reference to blackface.
As recently as during last month's Men's Fashion Week, when Commes des Garsons sent white models down the runway in braided cornrow wigs.
