Costumer’s Guild West, Inc., would like to sincerely apologize for our past failures in cultural representation and inclusivity, including but not limited to the announcement of the proposed Costume College theme “The Silk Road” for 2023. Our implementation of that theme, against the advice of several members of the costuming community, revealed our lack of consultation and communication with diverse costumers and our failure to respond effectively as an organization to constructive criticism. We know this apology is long overdue, and that our delay in making this statement is also part of our failure.

We recognize and take responsibility for presenting the theme without providing a context that would have enabled it to be a successful learning experience for our attendees, and for not establishing clear guidelines to ensure cultural respect within that theme and others. Our negligence in not seeking out representation of diverse cultures and experiences in all areas has damaged our reputation as a leader in costuming education and prevented us from creating spaces that are truly inclusive and welcoming to all. We are deeply sorry for the harm we caused.

While we cannot erase past missteps, we are working hard to learn from them and do better by:

• Forming a DEIA committee within CGW to help identify issues and opportunities for improvement

• Reviewing and publicizing a comprehensive Anti-Harassment Policy

• Creating and implementing a positive Code of Conduct for all our events

• Putting in place a formal incident reporting system and consequences for harassing behavior

• Establishing a Diversity Coordinator position on the Costume College Planning Committee

• Recruiting diversity and inclusivity-focused teachers and programming for Costume College, and helping our teachers present more accessible and inclusive classes

• Actively seeking out diverse members of our community for leadership positions

Many of these changes are still in the early stages, but we have so far seen a 50% increase in diversity-focused content for Costume College; restructured the Costume College Student Orientation to include cultural awareness and respect training; developed a College Outreach program to help diversify Costume College attendance; and established a permanent BIPOC scholarship for Costume College.

We invite constructive community feedback on these changes and welcome additional suggestions. This is an ongoing process, and we are committed to continuing the work beyond this initial statement. We hope this apology can be a step toward regaining trust so that we can contribute to a culture of belonging and inclusion in the costuming community and begin repairing the harm that we caused. 

Finally, we want to thank everyone who tried to provide us with perspective before and during the announcement and subsequent discussion, and apologize to those who were not treated with respect and kindness. We are also thankful for those people who have continued to work with us to help us improve, and for anyone who is reading this apology and considering giving us another chance. We will do our best to earn it.

The Costumer’s Guild West, Inc, Board of Directors