Reputation Starts at the Desk
Clients notice glossy campaigns. They also notice the faces behind them. A McKinsey survey shows only twenty percent of fashion leaders expect better business conditions in 2025 while thirty-nine percent think things will get worse. Uncertainty pushes agencies to fight for every win, and culture becomes the tiebreaker.
A Brand Is Only as Happy as Its Staff
“On shoot days the interns hid in the prop closet because feedback came as shouting,” recalls Maya, a senior stylist at a mid-size New York agency. The tension bled into work. Mood boards lost spark. Clients sensed it and cut the contract within three months.
Turnover Hurts Pitches
Arts and entertainment firms, a bucket that covers many fashion agencies, post a six-point-four percent annual turnover rate. That is higher than professional and business services at four-point-seven percent. Each exit drains project memory and trust.
When a project lead leaves during a pitch, the average win rate drops by ten percent, according to internal tracking at three agencies interviewed for this piece.
The Numbers Behind Culture Problems
Glassdoor Ratings Paint a Mixed Picture
Max Mara employees rate their workplace at three-point-three out of five. Fashionphile sits lower at two-point-eight. FashionPass lands higher at four-point-three. The spread shows that reputation is uneven. Job seekers talk, and so do clients.
Workers Are Talking to Unions
During London Fashion Week a new UK union launched a survey on job satisfaction, pay, and safety across fashion roles. Early results flagged long unpaid overtime and mental health stress. Such data will shape headlines, not just HR reports.
Safety Concerns Cut Deep
Allegations of harassment at big retailers, including a pending lawsuit against Harrods, keep the spotlight on workplace safety.
When stories surface, agencies linked to those brands face guilt by association. Recruiters report a twenty percent drop in applicant volume within two weeks of a major scandal.
Common Culture Traps in Agencies
Last Minute Mania
Fashion moves fast. Yet constant midnight edits burn teams. One creative director admitted that seventy percent of deadline changes came from internal indecision, not client feedback. Staff morale fell every time files were re-exported at 3 a.m.
Credit Confusion
Junior designers often see their concepts in final decks without a nod. “I watched my pattern idea win praise in Paris while my name stayed off the slide,” says Luca, a design assistant in Milan. Credit theft sparks quiet resentment that leaks on social media.
Silent Bullying
Bullying in fashion rarely looks like schoolyard taunts. It is eye rolls in fittings, jokes about accents, and group chats that exclude freelancers. A Traliant survey found that forty-two percent of employees in creative fields witnessed harassment in the past year. Silence feeds turnover.
Fixing the House Before the Shoot
Map Feedback Loops
Run quarterly pulse surveys with five simple questions. Keep them anonymous. Publish summary results at the next all-hands. Staff trust grows when they see answers acted on, not filed away.
Upgrade Manager Training
Teach managers how to give prompt, clear notes instead of vague critiques. Use role-play. Record sample feedback clips and store them in a shared library. New leads watch real examples, not theory.
Build Transparent Pay Bands
Post pay ranges for each role on the company wiki. Update them yearly. A clear ladder cuts gossip and makes promotions tangible.
Use Review Watchdogs
Set alerts for Glassdoor, Indeed, and Reddit mentions. Respond within forty-eight hours to every new post that raises an issue. If reviews contain factual errors or defamatory claims, agencies can engage vendors that specialise in indeed review removal services to clear the noise. Removing lies is not hiding. It keeps the debate honest.
Offer Clear Reporting Paths
Create a one-click form that routes to HR and a third-party ombuds team. Promise a reply within three business days. Time targets turn policy into action.
Celebrate Wins Loudly
Spotlight junior wins in Monday stand-ups. A pattern mock-up that saves a client meeting deserves airtime. Public praise costs nothing and sticks longer than fancy lunches.
Protecting Your Name Online
Own the Narrative
Draft a public culture page that lists agency values, pay bands, and diversity goals. Update progress every quarter. Transparency scares rumours away.
Partner With Clients on Ethics
Add a “respect clause” to campaign briefs. It states that shoot locations must supply safe facilities and reasonable hours. Clients sign it. Crews feel it.
Track Metrics That Matter
Measure average overtime hours per week, staff turnover, and Glassdoor rating together. Display the trend on an internal dashboard beside project budgets. When culture slides, numbers warn you before headlines do.
Bottom Line
Reputation in fashion starts behind the lens. High turnover and low trust bleed into creative output and client confidence. Stats show the risk. Anecdotes show the human cost. Agencies that listen early, fix credit gaps, and guard online reviews turn reputation into a growth asset. Culture is a campaign that never ends, but the return beats any runway buzz.
Stéphane Bellucci, who now runs a specialty espresso machine company in Canada, remembers how agency culture shaped him early on—even outside of fashion. “My first manager would slam my design drafts on the desk without a word. I had no idea if I was doing well or getting fired,” he says. “That experience made me promise I’d never leave anyone guessing in my own company.”
Today, he holds weekly feedback sessions with his team. “If something’s off, we fix it together. But if someone nails it, I say it loud. That kind of energy spreads.” His approach isn’t about coffee—it’s about clarity, culture, and making sure people are seen. In his words, “Silence is where resentment grows. You’ve got to fill that space with something better.”
