I’ve spent 33 years in this industry.
I’ve sat on both sides of the hiring table – at Zalando, H&M, House of Fraser, and beyond. I’ve hired hundreds of people and I’ve been hired. I’ve watched brilliant professionals reduced to silence by processes that treat them as an inconvenience rather than a candidate.
And in the last two years, something has shifted.
The professionals I speak to who are all experienced, talented and deeply committed to this industry are losing faith.
Not in fashion….but in the people who claim to want to hire them.
Here’s What I’m Hearing. Over and Over Again.
“I applied and never heard back. Not even an automated response.”
“I had three rounds of interviews, a presentation, a task, and then – nothing. Complete silence.”
“They came back six months later as if no time had passed and expected me to still be available.”
“The job description bore no resemblance to the actual role.”
“I was told the role was filled. I found out it was never real.”
These are not junior candidates venting frustration.
These are directors. Heads of department. Senior leaders with decades of experience and networks that span the industry.
And they are done.
Let Me Be Direct About What This Represents.
This is not a recruitment inefficiency. This is a values failure.
When a company ghosts a candidate after four rounds of interviews, it is telling you exactly what it thinks of your time.
When a recruiter posts a role that doesn’t exist to “build a pipeline”, it is telling you exactly how much it respects your energy.
When a hiring manager cancels the final meeting with no explanation and no rescheduled date, it is telling you exactly how much the process matters to the people running it.
Fashion has always had a reputation for exclusivity. That used to mean aspiration.
Now it’s starting to mean contempt.
And Here’s the Part Nobody Is Saying Loudly Enough.
This is costing the industry its best people.
The professionals who have options, and they always have options, are choosing companies that treat them with basic human dignity during the hiring process.
They’re going to brands that communicate clearly, move at pace, give feedback, and understand that a candidate is already forming an opinion of your culture from the moment you contact them.
The ones left behind? The companies that think the old power dynamic still holds. That candidates should be grateful for the opportunity to be ignored.
Good luck with that.
So What Needs to Change?
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.
And I’ve decided that Red De Moda needs to do something about it – not just talk about it.
We’re developing The Red De Moda Jobs Charter.
A set of commitments that any company, agency, or recruiter operating within our community must agree to uphold if they want to promote their jobs to our community.
Not aspirational values on a website. Actual standards. With actual accountability.
Here’s What We’re Working Towards:
1. Every interviewed applicant receives a response. No exceptions.
Automated or personal – candidates deserve to know their application was received and considered.
2. Timelines are communicated and kept.
If the process takes six weeks, say so at the start. If it changes, tell candidates immediately.
3. Feedback is given at every stage where a candidate has invested significant time.
If someone has done a presentation, a task, or multiple interviews, they are owed a proper conversation about why they weren’t selected.
4. Speculative and fictitious roles are not permitted.
If you post it, you are hiring for it. If circumstances change, you communicate that clearly.
5. Ghosting is a disqualification.
Any company found to have ghosted candidates following substantive engagement will be removed from the Red De Moda hiring community.
6. Diversity commitments are demonstrated, not declared.
Shortlists, interview panels, and hiring decisions must reflect the commitments companies make publicly.
7. Candidates are treated as professionals, not as a resource.
This means respecting their time, their preparation, and their right to understand what is happening at every stage.
This Charter Is Not Yet Final.
I want to build it with this community and with recruiters who are totally committed to the cause.
Because here’s what I know:
The companies that will push back on these standards are the ones that have already forfeited the right to hire the best people in fashion.
And the companies that will embrace them? They’re the ones that understand that how you hire is who you are.
Red De Moda Exists to Build a Better Industry.
Not to describe what a better industry might look like one day.
To build it now. With people who are ready to hold themselves and each other to a higher standard.
I Want to Hear From You.
If you believe fashion recruiting needs to change – tell me what you’ve experienced.
What should be in this charter? What am I missing?
And if you represent a company that is ready to sign up to something like this – I want to hear from you.
The industry is watching. So is this community.
