13881: Fashioning Diversity.

From Adweek…

Select World’s New Chief Creative Officer on Diversity in the Fashion Marketing Industry

Hans Dorsinville joins the agency after 15 years at Laird + Partners

By Erik Oster

Hans Dorsinville thinks the fashion industry and the agencies that help promote its biggest brands have only just begun to reflect the diverse makeup of the world.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but I think the only way we can do it is keep having the conviction that things need to change,” said Dorinsville, who joined independent agency Select World this week as its North American chief creative officer. “At the end of the day, we are here to represent brands that are for people. How do we do that if the people creating the work are not representative of society, and how do we do that if the people that we put in the actual advertising don’t represent the world that we live in?”

Dorsinville, who will co-lead the agency’s New York office with managing director Sabrina Yu, arrives at Select after 15 years with Laird + Partners, where he served as partner and executive creative director. This year, he was named to Adweek’s Creative 100, largely for his work on Lane Bryant’s #ImNoAngel and #ThisBodyIsMadeToShine body positivity campaigns.

“The truth of the matter is there are not that many agencies out there where there’s a black man and an Asian woman at the head of the agency,” he said, “and that, I think, sends a really great message out there that this is possible and that we’re going to be an agency … that is going to be able to represent a better cross section of consumers out there.”

Dorinsville told Adweek he was drawn to Select World as “an agency that has really been around awhile and has proven its worth and its expertise in this area of beauty and fashion.” Its client list currently includes Balenciaga, Davidoff, J.Lo, Seiko and Fekkai, among others.

“At Select World, we are global entrepreneurs working at the crossroads of creativity, technology and media, and we believe that the best and most breakthrough ideas are born out of diverse perspectives,” Yu said in a statement. “In addition, we wanted a creative and strategic leader who is equipped with international sensibility, attitude and style—an innovator who will develop our clients’ presence, relevance and prosperity. Hans embodies all of these talents and more. We believe he is the ideal choice to take Select World to the next level.”