“Most of the time, fashion and kids don’t match,” Edgar Rosier says. “But as a dad, it wouldn’t be fair of me to complain.” Rosier has a son, whom he cares for with his former girlfriend. Before starting their family, both worked in Paris’s luxury fashion industry. “I was at Dior and spoke to some high-ranked women there. They told me I was lucky to be a man. One of the women, for instance, had her children very young so she could go back to work early in her career. But then you have to be able to get a nanny, which the reality of a fashion income might not allow. I’ve seen others work so hard, only for people to imply that, if they have kids, their role will change. That’s very threatening.”
Rosier’s observations match that of many parents we spoke to in this industry – which is that mothers, more than fathers, face workplace bias. Some hid their pregnancies “as long as possible” because they feared implications at work. Others omit their parental status in job interviews or see their careers plateau because HR departments unfairly assume their motherhood might distract them. Meanwhile, the fathers we spoke to didn’t feel they had a right “to complain.” They didn’t face this kind of bias. But does this really make them luckier, like the women at Dior implied? Or does it further push both parents into stereotypical gender roles, where mothers are expected to compromise on their careers, and fathers are expected to compromise on family life, and nobody wins?
“[In terms of fatherhood] Role model-wise, there wasn’t a particular person in the industry.” – Farhid ‘Fats’ Shariff
For the fathers we spoke to, they cited a lack of role models or peers with whom they could discuss fatherhood in the fashion space. “Role model-wise, there wasn’t a particular person in the industry,” says Farhid ‘Fats’ Shariff, a father of three who has worked in fashion production for over 40 years. Fashion photographer Sacha Maric, who also has three children, can relate. “It’s a conversation we rarely have. I’ve spoken about [fatherhood] with one other photographer, that’s it.”
While maternity leave is – rightfully – becoming somewhat more established in the industry, few of the dads interviewed got long-lasting paternity leave, often relying on their local statutory allowance (in France, fathers get 25 days of statutory paid leave. In the UK, it’s one to two weeks. In the US, it’s none). Maric notes that becoming a father encouraged him to work more. “I started to take my career more seriously because I wanted to be able to provide a stable base. Sometimes I had to take jobs that made me miss things, like birthdays. But it’s hard to say no to a job, knowing it’ll provide for your family for the next two or three months.”
In an industry like fashion, robust policies are crucial.
Substantial, gender-inclusive parental leave doesn’t just benefit fathers, but queer parents of all genders and mothers too. When Chanel implemented a global, gender-inclusive parental leave policy in 2018 (as the first big luxury fashion house to do so), it was meant to “give women and men equal flexibility to focus on career and family, moving away from stereotypes that women, more than men, should manage family demands, which often force them to trade off on their career,” as per their responsibility report of that year. More fashion companies, such as Kering, Burberry, and Hermès, have followed suit. Burberry shared its policy with us, which entitles all employees who are the “biological mother or father, adoptive parent, guardian or step-parent” of a child to “18 weeks paid leave” and a 20% reduction in working hours in the month after, with no reduction in salary or benefits.
In an industry like fashion, robust policies are crucial. Regardless of gender, parents often cite the same hurdles: long hours, fast-paced and unsustainable working environments, frequent travel and the unspoken idea that professionals must sacrifice their personal lives for the sake of fashion. In-house at Galliano, Dior and Saint Laurent, Rosier recalls it was the norm to “stay past eight or nine every day. The hours weren’t very compatible with raising a child.” Under these conditions, it’s nearly impossible to balance childcare with a demanding fashion career. It becomes more doable in a partnership where both parents get significant, equal parental and care leave.
“It shouldn’t always be mothers staying home. Fathers should be offered some flexibility from employers so that the responsibility can be shared. Big fashion companies can offer nursery space or a nursery budget. Or both parents should be allowed [to] work from home.” – Valery Demure
“I never really saw my career or being a parent as a hurdle, because [my husband] was around, taking care of our home and [daughter],” says Valery Demure, who runs an agency specialised in fine jewellery and luxury accessories. Here, she works with her husband and employs about 10 people, some of whom are young mothers. “I know I’ll get last-minute phone calls when their child is sick,” she says. “I also feel it shouldn’t always be mothers staying home. Fathers should be offered some flexibility from employers so that the responsibility can be shared. Big fashion companies can offer nursery space or a nursery budget. Or both parents should be allowed [to] work from home.”
Some already do. Hugo Boss offers financial support for preschool-aged children and has a daycare at its headquarters. Tapestry and Moncler Group offer varying support schemes that (partially) cover childcare. Smaller companies often lack those resources but can help out fathers – and, subsequently, families – in other ways. Rosier now works for the Amsterdam-based streetwear brand Patta, under a flexible, partially remote arrangement. “It makes things easier,” he says. “I can be with my son in Paris, or my son can come to Amsterdam. I bring him to the office here, too.” As such, he can support his child’s mother, too. “She works at Burberry where she does visual merchandising for the stores, meaning she has to travel a lot. When she does, I can be there for her and our son.”
“In most [fashion] companies, it’s frowned upon to have kids.” – Danny Haryono
Danny Haryono, another Patta employee, also uses the company’s WFH arrangements. “When my partner travels for work, I can work from home with the kid,” he says. His colleague, Tomas Overtoom, adds: “In most [fashion] companies, it’s frowned upon to have kids. Here, I can take my kids along to a work event. It wouldn’t even be crazy to have them in the office for the full day.”
Keanni Burke, the company’s HR officer, says about one-third of Patta’s employees are parents (more than half of that group are fathers). Formal support includes flexible hours, remote working options and parental leave – including explicit paternity leave. “We actively encourage fathers to take advantage of these benefits,” Burke says. “We want to create a workplace culture that values men as fathers and caregivers. These policies are available to all staff, regardless of gender, and are designed to help balance work and family life.”
For the self-employed (a sizeable part of fashion’s workforce), paternity leave or reduced working hours can be harder to obtain – even if you have savings. “It’s worrying to take too much time off,” Maric says. “You need that visibility to keep that momentum going. The more you’re booked, the more clients will want you.” Overtoom, who used to run a menswear label, adds: “I was always working on the weekends, even though I wanted to be there for my kids.”
Shariff, who started his production agency with his ex-wife while she was pregnant with their first son, considers himself lucky. “Our house was big enough to [partially use] as an office, so I never went to the office; I just went downstairs,” he says. Home offices like these blur the lines between family life and work. Their sons are adults now, and Shariff still runs a company, now with his oldest.
Just like mothers, working fathers deserve more than just representation. In order for many different family units to thrive – be it two partners, co-parents, single parents – paternity leave and a culture of allowing both men to take time out of their careers (and women to focus on their work should they want to) is crucial.
