How intercultural dialogues are shaping the future of fashion and education
Black Carpet Awards and Istituto Marangoni Milano drive change by promoting multiplicity and empowering underrepresented creative voices
Diversity is no longer a buzzword; it’s a driving force that is redefining the future of fashion and education. From the runway to the classroom, inclusion now means more than representation; it involves rethinking who has access, authorship, and agency.
Black Carpet Awards 2025: Pioneering Equity, Multiplicity, Dignity, and Systemic Change in Fashion at Milan Fashion Week
This shift is central to the Black Carpet Awards, returning for their third edition on September 24, 2025, during Milan Fashion Week about womenswear SS 2026, with Naomi Campbell as global ambassador and a lineup of creatives who are transforming the industry from within.
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Snapshot from Black Carpet Awards 2024 at Teatro Manzoni, featuring Anna Wintour with designers and nominees involved in the initiative
Istituto Marangoni Milano Empowers Emerging African Designers Through Inclusive Fashion Education and Cross-Cultural Collaboration
Milan is committed to advance diversity by empowering new generations of creatives from historically underrepresented backgrounds, supporting inclusive education, and fostering cross-cultural dialogue through the fashion industry. This commitment is exemplified by a collaboration between the Afro Fashion Association, Istituto Marangoni Milano, and the LABA Douala Academy in Cameroon, which has led to an initiative aimed at nurturing emerging African fashion talent.
The winner of the LABA Douala contest will receive a full scholarship to attend the Master’s in Fashion Design program at Istituto Marangoni Milano, starting in September 2025—an opportunity rooted in a vision of fashion as a means of cultural empowerment.
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Capsule collection created by designer Zineb Hazim for Black Carpet Awards
A Conversation on Diversity, Intellectual Freedom, and Education in Fashion: Diana Marian Murek Reflects on Fundamental Transformation
In this exclusive interview, Diana Marian Murek (Director of Education, Istituto Marangoni Milano), now a jury member at the Black Carpet Awards 2025, discusses the necessity of moving beyond performative diversity. From curriculum design to creative mentorship, inclusion must be structural, intentional, and visionary, as this is where real transformation begins.
Diversity is a central theme in today’s fashion world. What does it mean to you, both personally and professionally?
To me, diversity serves as both an ethical foundation and a source of immense creative power. Having worked in multiple cultural contexts and institutions, from Europe to Asia, I’ve come to understand that diversity isn’t about symbolic representation, but about recognising knowledge systems, aesthetic values, cultural heritage and lived experiences that differ from one’s own. In education, it means challenging dominant narratives—it means redistributing space, visibility, and opportunity. It’s a continuous process of learning, unlearning, listening, and reimagining frameworks.
The Black Carpet Awards celebrate inclusion through creativity. What makes this event so special in your eyes?
The Black Carpet Awards are not simply about recognition; they place visibility, authorship, and dignity in the hands of those who have shaped culture for generations, often without acknowledgement. They are about redefining and uplifting not just talent but also creative autonomy. What makes the Black Carpet Awards extraordinary is the way they honour creativity not as a mere aesthetic exercise, but as a language of resistance, affirmation, and self-definition. That, to me, is a deeply powerful gesture.
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Designer Victor Hart with one look from his capsule collection presented at Black Carpet Awards
You’ve worked with designers from all over the world. What unites the most authentic talents beyond cultural differences?
The most authentic creatives are often those who share a combination of both deep-rootedness and radical openness. What unites them is not a common style but a shared courage—to tell stories that matter, to challenge expectations, and to translate cultural specificity into universal resonance. Their practice is not only about creating garments and artifacts; it’s about articulating identity, memory, and place. Creative authenticity means storytelling that is self-defined, textured, and unapologetically personal.
DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) initiatives are gaining momentum in institutions and companies. How are they implemented in your educational context?
At Istituto Marangoni Milano, DEI is not just a checklist; it represents an ongoing commitment to rethinking how and what we teach. We are working to develop a model that amplifies underrepresented perspectives, integrates non-Western knowledge systems, and fosters a curriculum that reflects the diverse global fashion landscape today. This commitment is especially important given that our student population comes from approximately 110 different countries.
What do you look for in a collection during an event like the Black Carpet Awards?
I seek intention and authorship—design that communicates something essential, urgent, and grounded in identity. I value collections that resist simplification, moving beyond aesthetics and into meaningful storytelling. Fashion becomes powerful when it invites us to see from different perspectives and feel deeply. The most memorable collections are not necessarily the most polished, but rather the most purposeful. They embody cultural intelligence, emotional depth, and a desire to convey a message, not just to show something.
What does “inclusion” truly mean in the fashion industry today?
Inclusion must extend beyond visibility; it should encompass access, authorship, and agency. True inclusion challenges the structures that have long dictated taste, value, and legitimacy. It means gaining access not only to platforms but also to power. Inclusion without transformation is meaningless.
How can education be a true driver of change in the fashion system?
Education has the potential to rewrite the foundations of fashion culture. It must not only transmit knowledge but also deconstruct bias, restore erased histories, and equip students to become critical agents of change, not just creative professionals. Change begins in the classroom. When we transform education, we don’t just change the students; we change the industry they will inherit. The next generation is not asking for permission; they are building alternative systems.
Have you witnessed real change in fashion regarding diversity, or is it still in its early stages?
We have observed symbolic change: editorial covers, casting, and campaigns now suggest some progress. However, structural transformation around hiring, access to funding, and ownership remains uneven. Change that matters requires a redistribution of power, not just images. That said, I am encouraged by the new generation of designers, editors, and thinkers who are not simply asking for space but are actively creating it on their own terms. Our long-standing collaboration with a partner like the Afro Fashion Association is rooted in a shared purpose: to gain meaningful insights on how to engage with intention and respect.
What do you hope to see in the future of fashion through the eyes of young global designers?
I hope to see a fashion system shaped by multiplicity, dignity, and intellectual freedom. A system that no longer asks creatives to explain or justify their difference, but one that recognises those differences as central to the future of our craft. Through the eyes of emerging designers—especially those from historically excluded communities—I see a fashion world that is not only more inclusive but also more visionary, more self-aware, and infinitely more relevant.