Dear Revolve,
Hey, bb's! It's been exactly ten days since my post about Revolve and their lack of diversity. Can I just start this off by saying that I am so proud of us? I am so proud of the new spaces that have been created for us and by us. I am incredibly proud of everyone who has spoken up, taken action and spread the word. This issue has really united our community and it has inspired so many to help each other out by sharing information and educating each other.But there's still an incredibly large elephant in the room. An elephant that Revolve has not only refused to address, but they've now chosen to ignore. I'm sure y'all saw on Instagram that quite a few influencers received the following email:
This was my response to that email:
After thinking about this a bunch, I decided I needed to re-write my letter and I needed to share it with everyone, or well.. whoever reads this thing.
Dear Revolve,
Is this a joke? I'm going to assume that this is either a tasteless joke or the person you hired for influencer marketing just got back from a 6-month sabbatical and was just now given access to the internet. No brief. No warning. Just a random person who decided to send that e-mail to everyone who was rowdy about your lack of diversity. But let's stick with a joke because it makes me feel better as a breathing human sharing the same air as you.
I want to know when you recapacitated from your colorism and developed the ability to feel. Because now, conveniently, you feel that I (along with the 94 other bloggers who got the same copy and pasted message) resonate with your brands. Are these new undisclosed brands? Do they not exist? Where are they? I can't find them. Because I know good and well you are not referring to Revolve and whatever Alliance is.
You feel that we resonate with your vision. Have you just recently been gifted the ability to see? This vision that you're referring to. Does it involve shutting people up with a free pantsuit that costs $7 to make? I'm not understanding this vision. I'm not sure how the vision of an entire company can change overnight without the acknowledgment of their lack of sight. I'm no expert, but I'm almost positive that in order to change you have to know that something needs to change. Did we not get the memo that you got the memo? Or is the free bathing suit your way of saying that you received it?
You do realize that we all united as a community and told each other what was happening right? So you do realize that upon sending everyone the same exact e-mail we were going to tell each other? You also realize that we have the highest buying power in this country and can afford to purchase your clothing. So I'm sure it's no surprise that this is insulting as fuck. Do I put on the free overalls and let you scream "See! We included you!"
Take some advice from the people who you are poorly trying to make amends with. Hire a public relations crisis control expert. Y'all need professional help. There's no coming back from this. Then when you decide to show face for this bullshit, try a response like this:
Dear influencer,
It has come to our attention that there is a huge lack of diversity within our brands and it has upset a large community of people. We would first and foremost like to apologize. In efforts to rectify this awful truth, we would love to hear more ways in which we can expand our vision.
To begin this process we'd like to know if you would send us your budget. We then would like to further discuss a campaign opportunity as we'd like to begin fixing this issue as soon as possible.
Please feel free to add the names of any content creators you feel would fit the improvement of our vision.
But nah. You hit us what that "let's give them some full-sized candy bars so they don't bitch." That's not going down. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. See one of the things that I will admit is that we have an issue acknowledging our worth, but that's changing. We know our worth. We're adding tax. We're saving receipts, and building for ourselves.
Check out spaces like @youbelongnow, and @WOCootd. Gather your team, go to confession, or whatever your heart desires and then go back to the drawing board because this is not how you address an issue of that magnitude. When you're ready, hit us up with something other than free clothes and pity vision.
PS. Tell your friends at Tarte that your influencers don't all need their own personalized shade of beige.
xo
bye