The Importance Of Educators
The following post was written by our Co-Founder Matthew Kane. Matthew is Design Director of Men’s and Women’s Knits as well as Men’s Shirts at Club Monaco. He has over a decade of experience working in the fashion industry and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Menswear Program.
In the early days of CWC, before my Co-Founders and I determined our exact mission, we met with the leaders of every top design school in the country to assess their needs. How could we be of service? Every institution addressed the lack of diversity within their student populations, the reality being that education itself wasn’t open available to all. But a secondary concern, most pressing for the Black students who actually made it to college, was the lack of representation among faculty. There were so few role models and leaders to serve as examples for young people, who could make their dreams appear a reality.
This was a revelation to me as my experience within design school had proven to be exceptional. I took for granted that my two greatest mentors in school, Mary Wilson and Mark-Evan Blackman of the Menswear Program at FIT, represented the kind of diversity that is so lacking in almost every other school nationally. There is a famine of Black leadership, and I recognized how fortunate I was to have learned from educators who recognized that difference could be a value rather than a hindrance.
Their wisdom provided me with guidance that set the course for my entire career. Among the pearls: the industry is small, so build and leverage your relationships. Always write a thank-you note. And, most importantly, define yourself and who you are before you even begin. I can recall an exercise, early in our coursework, of writing our own biographies to frame all the hard work we had done in school. Our designs were important, but so was defining who we were and where we came from. Everyone’s personal narrative was truly unique and shaped what we had to offer. I entered the field knowing I had to stand apart and recognize the value of being an individual.
A full-circle moment when Mary and Mark-Evan spoke on behalf of CWC in a video we made at the conclusion of our first year. They had invested their time and wisdom in my own career and advancement, including introducing me to my future CWC Co-Founders, and this organization was my chance to pay that forward to future generations of Black students so they could benefit from that same high level of teaching and guidance. Mary’s quote so beautifully encapsulates the ethos and values that they have provided to their students, values that I carry forward today.
“The future that I would like to see in fashion is when young people don’t have to think about fitting into a mold,” she said. “Don’t fit in – be you, and create.”
