Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Pledge

InStyle’s mantra is “Everybody’s in,” and that means anyone who finds their way to our stories should find themselves reflected in them. 

From the veteran beauty connoisseur to someone experimenting with their first-ever product. From the elite few who design couture to those who stitch, sew, sell, and ship our everyday clothes. It means the worlds we build and share look like the world we inhabit in real life, and all its gorgeous diversity — that of race and ethnicity; hair type and skin tone; size, shape, ability, age, and gender expression. 

This goes for our team behind the scenes, too. We prioritize finding the right writer and photographer, hair and makeup artists, stylists, and more to tell each story authentically and sensitively. When we cover brands, we shout out owners, founders, and designers from historically underrepresented communities. In product reviews, we make sure to share size range, shade range, cost, and usability considerations that impact how accessible it is to any reader who’d want to try it. 

Taking steps to ensure InStyle isn’t just a fun destination for fashion and beauty, but a place that’s both welcoming and affirming isn’t a new initiative. It’s something that has been core to this brand for many years. That said, it does take work. The industries we cover have long histories of homogeneity, and we take a lot of pride in our power to shift the status quo to one that’s more representative, more inclusive, and more positive for all of our readers and fans. Living up to this promise is a baseline expectation on our team and a standard we can always improve upon. 

Here, for the first time, we are sharing some of the quantifiable, actionable ways we hold ourselves accountable.

Editorial

  • Review our content: While we strive to always write and edit with diversity, equity and inclusion in mind, we will additionally begin working with an internal anti-bias review board to evaluate our existing archive of content on these metrics by the end of 2022. 
  • Diversify our contributor network: InStyle has a large network of freelance writers who contribute to our pages daily, and diversity among this group is a top priority. We remain committed to hiring writers across race and ethnicity, body-size, nationality, and LGBTQ identities — and not only on topics relating to identities they represent. As of 2021, nearly 50% of our contributors were BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and all people of color). Our parent company, Dotdash Meredith, is working on formally auditing the diversity of our contributors so we can set a benchmark to maintain going forward. 
  • Diversify our credits: In accordance with Aurora James’s 15% pledge (InStyle’s pledge signature has been highlighted by the New York Times), we promise that within our fashion, beauty, and lifestyle stories, 15% or more of the credits will feature Black-owned companies and/or Black designers. We will also prioritize the inclusion of BIPOC-owned businesses among our suggested retailers and brands. 

Creative

  • Visuals: Our visuals team puts in the extra effort to display a diverse range of body types, as well as skin colors and ethnicities. We prioritize imagery that reflects the nature of the content and a diverse community beyond white, thin bodies. Additionally, we hire diverse creators (from photographers and designers to stylists, hair, and makeup professionals). The viewpoints of the artists are just as important as the imagery they create.
  • Talent: At least 40% of our shoots will feature BIPOC models and talent; a benchmark we aim for when pulling stock imagery as well.
  • Production: We pledge to have multiple BIPOC individuals on set for any InStyle shoot. We also pledge to consider the points of view of multiple people, including BIPOC individuals, when creating concepts and ideating our stories.

Internal

  • Diversify our staff: We ensure that BIPOC candidates are considered for every open role and we will continue efforts to diversify our in-house team, starting with our current open positions. As of May 2022, 25% of our team members identify as BIPOC. 

Social

  • Diversify our Instagram and TikTok content: InStyle’s Instagram has 3.7 million followers, and we want to ensure each and every one of them (and all newcomers!) feels represented in our content. We pledge to feature at least 40% BIPOC individuals on our Instagram and TikTok feeds; since our launch on TikTok in 2021 we’ve consistently exceeded that number. 

Community

Our editors collaborate with Good Impressions by Meredith, which provides pro bono media and marketing consultation to help bridge the wealth and social gap for minority-owned small businesses. We pledge to explore and develop an additional partnership with a brand or organization to further promote our above stated values by the end of 2022. 

 We will be updating this list with our progress and promises every quarter. If you have any questions about our plan, suggestions for how we can improve it, or referrals for contributors to hire or creators to feature, please email our senior editorial director at laura.norkin@dotdashmdp.com.