DESIGN FOR DIVERSITY

Mylands pledges to participate in the ‘Design for Diversity’ campaign to promote inclusivity and diversity within the interiors industry.

Kate Watson-Smyth, editor of Mad about the House, the UK’s number one interiors blog, has joined forces with Rukmini Patel, a leading interior designer of British-Asian origin, to launch ‘Design for Diversity’, a nationwide campaign to promote inclusivity and diversity, and to improve representation, within the interiors industry.

The campaign asks brands, businesses and blogs to make a pledge for change in the industry. Change could happen through conversations and discussing ideas, as well as through internships and work placements, and by working towards a more diverse workplace and/or supplier base, creating a more welcoming, multicultural and equal environment for everyone.

Dominic Myland, CEO of Mylands commented: “At Mylands we are proud to employ a diverse, multicultural workforce. We will continue to do so, and by supporting Design for Diversity we are pledging our commitment to openness and a positive change for good in the design industry.”

The pledge 

1 Visibility

A pledge that our channels – websites, blogs and social media – will endeavour to include people of every colour, gender and sexuality.

2 Opportunity

A pledge to seek out BAME candidates to interview for roles that arise in our businesses. Brands will always hire the best person for the job but promise to be more proactive in looking for more diverse candidates. Brands will stop short of positive discrimination and reject tokenism.

3 Accessibility

A pledge that any events brands hold – be they panel discussions or talks, dinners, receptions, or media events – will endeavour to include people of all colours and genders.

Rukmini Patel commented: "Design for Diversity is a simple pledge that we hope the design community will embrace to work towards a diverse, inclusive community to tackle the lack of representation across the industry.”

Kate Watson-Smyth said: "We hope the Design for Diversity sticker and pledge will open doors to conversations within the design community where there's a clear need to improve diversity and tackle under-representation. We do not offer this as a solution but as a starting point which we hope will pave the way for many more initiatives to come.”