Why the fashion industry still has so few women at the top, despite some recent high-profile appointments

Four female designers have recently taken over at old-world European fashion houses, allowing industry commentators to declare the days of a boys’ club of creative directors over. Maria Grazia Chiuri and Clare Waight Keller became the first women directors at Dior and Givenchy respectively, while Natacha Ramsay-Levi takes over Chloe and Bouchra Jarrar is the first woman to lead Lanvin since Jeanne Lanvin founded the brand in 1889.

However, fashion remains an industry dominated by women at every level bar one: the very top. Of the 92 shows on the Paris Fashion Week womenswear schedule, fewer than 30 have female creative directors, and Milan scores even lower with 31 per cent of brands represented by a woman. And on the business side of things, LVMH executive vice-president Delphine Arnault seemingly stands alone among male executives.

So how is this female-focused industry still predominantly a man’s world? London arts and design college Central Saint Martins has a 74 per cent female student body, while New York’s Fashion Institute reports 85 per cent female attendance. Women are winning university placements and entry -level jobs, but why so few leadership roles?

Many of the world’s leading brands were started by women but success brought changes. Coco Chanel is the most notable example of male control, but Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli, Nina Ricci and Marie-Louise Carven are women whose eponymous labels became influential and were then taken over by men.