From Trump to Gen-Z, Fashion Faces a Culture Quake

In early January, e-commerce tech firm Rokt brought its more than 600 employees to Austin, Texas for its annual retreat — a tradition with a hefty price tag (past host cities have included Phuket, Thailand and Sydney).

But there’s a crucial reason the New York-based company is doubling down on the investment.

“When there’s a lot of change, that’s when the importance of great leadership and great culture comes to the forefront,” said Simon Curran, Rokt’s first-ever chief development and culture officer. “A lot of people will say that commercially, [Rokt’s retreat] doesn’t make a lot of sense. But, in our mind, it makes incredible sense.”

Building a company culture where people want to work has never been easy. But it’s only getting harder. The year ahead promises economic uncertainty, tariff threats and other challenges for businesses.

Traditional workplace rituals like water cooler chats and happy hours are relics of the past that don’t resonate across multigenerational teams. President Donald Trump in his first week in office has issued executive orders that aim to dismantle corporate diversity programmes, creating a doubtful future for many practices that had become a standard part of many companies’ culture over the last decade. Adding to the uncertainty, executive and creative director turnover at mass retailers and luxury fashion houses has reached a fever pitch, deepening leadership instability at a time when it’s most critical.

In the midst of the chaos, some fashion firms might be compelled to prioritise their bottom line over the sometimes opaque goals of employee engagement and team-building. But, as leaders like Curran see it, happy employees and revenue growth go hand in hand. Companies that separate the two miss the point entirely.

“[Fashion firms] need to get more strategic and investment-minded about [culture] and treat people as an investment,” said Lauren Lotka, founder and CEO of talent agency and consultancy Lotka & Co. “You’re paying them to do a job for you so if you can’t get to the emotional, cultural component right — just think about the dollars and cents.”

Here, BoF breaks down the trends that will impact fashion company culture in 2025 and how leaders can navigate crucial changes to their workplace.

The New Happy Hour

Over the past five years, hybrid work, the entrance of Gen-Z to the workplace and other cultural shifts have spurred a stark move away from what used to be very real office perks like free lunches, ping pong tables or trendy office digs. The shift has been in many ways led by the same companies (like Google and Meta) that introduced these concepts.

But these aren’t necessarily setbacks. They can present an opportunity to evolve beyond superficial perks to find more creative, innovative ideas to boost their teams’ connection.

The evolution of drinking culture exemplifies some of these changes: Gen-X thrived on coffee and cocktail meetings, millennials embraced office beer kegs and rosé fountains, while Gen-Z leans toward sober socialising. (The US Surgeon General also recently issued a warning about alcohol’s link to cancer likely incentivising the shift away from imbibing as a go-to socialising tool.)

“We have workforces that are split between in-office and working from home, we now have to make sure, if I’m going to leave my home to go to this happy hour, what’s the draw? Is it just drinks?” Lotka said. “This is an opportunity to rethink what matters to our people, and asking them, ‘what do you guys want to do?’”

Companies don’t have to nix alcohol altogether but they should establish clear policies on consumption in the workplace (most companies don’t have such a policy) and offer better alternatives (like mocktails) so people who want to abstain can do so without social pressure, said Asli Atay, a senior policy advisor at Work Foundation at Lancaster University.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that alcohol has no place at work, but coming up with responsible drinking policies, or offering alternatives so that they can respect people’s individual, health or religious cultural differences,” she said.

How to Say ‘DEI’

Even before Trump’s second term began, many companies had already disbanded their DEI departments — most of which were established post-2020 in response to the police killing of George Floyd — laid off their diversity chiefs and scaled back policies intended to level the playing field for marginalised employees and suppliers.

Trump’s executive orders, signed within hours of his inauguration and essentially calling for the end of DEI departments in the federal government as well as within private companies, are all but certain to accelerate this trend.

In January, Meta joined Walmart in announcing the end of its DEI programmes following Trump’s election victory, while Apple and Costco are among the few major companies to publicly double down on their commitments to the DEI moniker and related initiatives (although this was just ahead of Trump’s swearing in).

Leaders who appear to shift their values based on political winds risk long-term and even irreversible damage to both revenue and employee morale, especially as workplaces and consumer bases grow more diverse, regardless of political affiliations. Conversely, companies that prioritise the fundamentals of DEI — treating people fairly and empowering underrepresented staffers to express unique points of view — will benefit over time from more innovative products, stronger revenues and employee engagement, said Aniela Unguresan, founder of the Edge Certified Foundation, a Switzerland-based organisation offering DEI certifications.

“How do [fashion firms] get back on the growth curve?” she said. “It’s [finding] the parts of the markets that remain untapped and the [consumer] needs that were not addressed before … and how best to do that than with people inside the organisation that understand diverse market needs?”

Trump’s pressure campaign, however, will require companies that pursue this path to consider how to achieve these goals without using the language. It’s something some companies have been doing for a while now. Even before Trump’s orders, Lotka logged an increase in requests from clients for “consulting support” on the “changing organisational dynamics,” she said.

“It’s coming in the form of different trainings and workshops directed at culture but using different terminology and language than DEI,” she said.

Still, some DEI proponents worry that removing explicit language and policies around diversity, equity and inclusion could undermine critical objectives, like improved employee retention, fostering product innovation and expanding consumer bases.

“Organisations no longer have homogenous workforces — there’s [always] some form of diversity, whether it’s age, gender or disability,” she said. “If you don’t have a very specific and granular lens to account for that — and aren’t intentional and measured in understanding how that diversity fares in your workplace — you will miss out on growth opportunities.”

Navigating Leadership Shake-Ups

The usual churn of creative directors at luxury fashion houses reached a dizzying pace in 2024, with Celine, Missoni, Valentino, and Chanel among the brands announcing changes at the top creative post. Large retail brands, including Nike, Kohl’s and Ulta, also saw more than their share of executive turnover — a trend experts don’t expect to dissipate in 2025.

For brands struggling with staleness, executive changes could open the door for innovation and leadership from new and interesting backgrounds, Unguresan said. But companies should keep in mind that instability at the top is “disruptive to teams” and be proactive about creating processes that foster “continuity, development and growth over the long term,” Lotka said.

“We’ve been on that track for many years now with constant reorgs — whether you’re an LVMH or a Nike or a much smaller company,” she said. “It’s just remembering that that’s hard on people.”

In fashion in particular, where brand success hinges greatly on people’s ability to be creative — simple steps like open and honest communication, recognising people’s achievements and soliciting regular feedback can go a long way in making people feel supported.

“[Sometimes] we forget what’s important … and the thing about culture is that, underneath all that, we are human,” said Rokt’s Curran. “It’s too easy to skip over the fundamentals — being seen, being acknowledged. When you’re tasked with being creative but don’t feel supported, it’s like driving with the handbrake on.”