Vogue Italy and the Afro Fashion Association Launch The Unseen Profiles

The Afro Fashion Association launches The Unseen Profiles platform, with the support of Vogue Italia.

The platform aims to put Black, Indigenous and people of color professionals seeking employment in direct contact with hiring managers.

Vogue Italia supported the initiative in its January issue, and earlier this week hosted a digital presentation event about the project.

Covering the launch, publication WWD wrote: "Dubbed "The Unseen Profiles" and supported by Vogue Italia, the project intends to favor the introduction of people with a multicultural background in the Italian workspace across different industries, encompassing fashion, architecture, engineering, consulting and sport, to name a few."

The initiative's ultimate goal is to give visibility to talents who have often seen their chances during job selections hampered by prejudices in the country.

In recent years, a conversation has finally started to gain traction in Italy regarding the lack of opportunities for people of colour in the world of work. Within the creative industries – and with fashion leading the way – positive signs of change are emerging thanks to initiatives designed to support and create opportunities for these talents.

One of these initiatives is We Are Made in Italy (WAMI), a collective of professionals who, through their digital platform, are focused on promoting emerging creatives of colour living in Italy. Since its inception, the group has made major progress in expanding its scope to offer visibility and opportunities, managing to open doors that initially seemed impossible to access. On the strength of this success, WAMI’s founder Michelle Francine Ngonmo decided to venture beyond the boundaries of the fashion industry with the launch of The Unseen Profiles.

Michelle Francine Ngonmo told Condé Nast: “We're extremely proud to have achieved this objective, which we’ve been striving towards with the belief that we can contribute to the creation of new paradigms in the world of work."

Open to everyone for consultation, candidates with a multicultural background can create an account free of charge to upload their résumé and search, apply to or save job announcements, as well as benefit from mentoring services offered by the platform. Find out more here.