The Vivienne Westwood style home is going through mounting scrutiny after an unbiased investigation upheld allegations of homophobic bullying towards its chief government, Carlo D’Amario.
The claims, which had been examined by an employment barrister in June 2023, included accusations that D’Amario repeatedly used homophobic slurs, bullied workers, and discriminated towards workers primarily based on their sexuality.
Regardless of these findings, D’Amario stays in his position, whereas the complainant who raised the grievance has since left the corporate.
The allegations have raised severe questions on whether or not the values championed by the late Dame Vivienne Westwood—a pioneer of LGBT+ rights and gender expression in style—have actually endured inside her firm. Whereas the model has continued to publicly embrace queer tradition, together with a current collaboration with non-binary singer Sam Smith, the revelations recommend a disconnect between the corporate’s exterior picture and its inside management tradition.
The allegations towards D’Amario surfaced in 2023, when a homosexual worker raised an inside grievance about his conduct. The corporate introduced in employment regulation specialist Paul Livingston to conduct an unbiased investigation, throughout which eight witnesses had been interviewed.
The report upheld 5 of the allegations, concluding that D’Amario had seemingly breached employment regulation. Witnesses reported that he had often used homophobic nicknames for the worker, together with “Mary Poppins,” “Mary Fairy,” and “Homo Pomo.” One workers member mentioned that they had commonly heard D’Amario use the time period “homo pomo” and had thought of it offensive on the time.
Considerations about D’Amario’s behaviour prolonged past verbal insults. Witnesses recalled him criticising retailer shows for trying “too gay”, a remark that left some workers “horrified.” When questioned in the course of the investigation, D’Amario denied all allegations, insisting that sexuality was “the last thing in [his] brain” and suggesting that any misunderstandings could be resulting from language limitations. Nevertheless, the investigator discovered his denials “not persuasive.”
The claims towards D’Amario didn’t cease at homophobic remarks. Witnesses additionally alleged that he had made disparaging feedback about homosexual workers, at one level saying, “All these gay men in the company … you can’t trust them.” One other witness recalled him utilizing the phrase “gay parade” to explain workers who had been well-dressed.
Allegations of racist feedback additionally surfaced, together with one occasion the place he reportedly informed a workers member, “I’m not racist, but all your clients are members of the mafia.” D’Amario denied making the mafia remark in the course of the investigation.
Considerations about his management had been first publicly raised in November 2023, when Cora Corré, Westwood’s granddaughter, resigned from the corporate. In her resignation letter, she accused D’Amario of misusing Westwood’s designs, blocking charitable fundraising by the Vivienne Basis, and “bullying” Westwood earlier than her dying in 2022.
She additionally claimed that her grandmother had been deeply sad together with his administration and had needed him faraway from the corporate. The style home didn’t reply to those allegations on the time.
The controversy has solid a shadow over Vivienne Westwood Ltd’s status, notably given its long-standing help for progressive values. Whereas the model has been vocal about local weather activism, human rights, and queer inclusivity, the investigation means that its inside tradition could not align with these beliefs.
The report discovered that D’Amario’s behaviour breached the corporate’s equality coverage and that executives, together with D’Amario and Westwood herself, had failed to finish obligatory range coaching. Regardless of these findings, the corporate has taken no public disciplinary motion, and monetary information present that D’Amario earned practically £500,000 in 2023.
Vivienne Westwood Ltd has repeatedly declined to touch upon the investigation’s findings or affirm whether or not any motion was taken towards D’Amario.
With rising scrutiny on office tradition and management accountability within the style business, the model now faces a vital determination: whether or not to face by its CEO or uphold the values that made Vivienne Westwood a worldwide icon of riot, inclusivity, and justice.
