It's an unfortunate reality – if one that probably won't surprise you – that many industries suffer from biased hiring practices and a penchant for nepotism. The creative sphere in particular, however, is notorious for being unattainable to everyone but those with the luck to be born into money, connections and family names. Barriers to entry in fields like fashion, art and music are high and opaque, and socioeconomic status and social connections are the key form of currency. It takes a certain amount of financial stability to work unpaid internships for long periods of time or to work for ‘exposure’, a certain connectedness to land roles that are unlisted and go to the right events where the right people can give you the right opportunities. And, once there, a certain education to give you the skills to say or wear the right thing. The result has been creative industries filled with people who come from all the same backgrounds, families and art schools.
“I'm from a second-generation Albanian immigrant family who don't really understand what the creative industry embodies,” says
