Navigating Fashion Gender Divide: A Narrative Inquiry on Struggles and Coping Strategies of Couturiers in Aklan, Philippines

Abstract

The fashion industry is moving towards social norms. The gap in gender equality remains a challenge among couturiers involved in creating customized clothing. This study investigated the gender divide in the fashion industry, focusing on the struggles and coping mechanisms of Aklanon couturiers. The study was anchored on social role theory. The study employed a qualitative research design, involving the ten (10) Aklanon couturiers compost of LGBTQIA+, male, and female participants of the study. The validated interview guide was used in gathering the data. The collected information was analyzed and interpreted using a thematic analysis.  Results revealed that most participants experienced difficulty in sewing; limited and unavailability of materials, stress, and low-cost service. Likewise, the study found that the task of doing the basic clothing construction from measuring to sewing remains a women’s job while creating the design and branding was handled by the LGBTQIA+, where women claimed they shared less recognition in the field because they are working in the back of the house.  To cope with these struggles, the most common experiences shared by the participants were: hiring and outsourcing skilled sewers, outsourcing needed materials, conducting regular inventory, upgrading skills, and digitizing some areas of operation to meet clients’ satisfaction and expectations. However, some elderly women sewers, who are not updated with the use of the new technology cannot easily apply the platform and they remain traditional in doing their job. Hence, the study implied that there are shared gender stereotypes from the gender division of labor in the fashion industry, though both genders perform differentiated tasks however, women tend to do the cutting and sewing which they claim to be associated with their domestic chores, which is due to cultural stereotypes about gender.