You need to watch Emma Watson’s powerful new video about gender equality

UN Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson has been a major proponent for gender equality for the last several years. Time and time again, she’s stood up and spoken out for women all over the globe. Last year, she gave an unbelievably inspirational and empowering UN speech about how gender equality is a battle we should ALL be fighting for — not just women. She’s given feminist dating advice and has often brought attention to the lack of women in leadership. Her amazing #HeForShe campaign has inspired hundreds of thousands of men (right now, over 380,000!) all over the world to take a stand for gender equality.

Now, Emma has spoken out once again in a powerful new British Vogue video about gender equality that was shared last week. The video, entitled “Emma Watson: Fashion on Gender Equality,” shows the September Vogue star grilling some of the most well-known people in the fashion industry — Stella McCartney, Bella Freud, Jonathan Saunders, and Erdem Moralioglu, for example — about feminism. “I want to get this conversation, this dialogue happening specifically within the fashion industry to ask the leading voices about gender equality,” she explains at the start of the video.

Emma asks them questions like, “Are you a feminist?” and “What part can the fashion industry play in addressing gender inequality?” And just like that, the conversation is started.

“I think the fashion industry has a very big role to play,” McCartney, pictured above, says.”It has a huge voice and the voice can be adapted. We need to give a better message to women of all ages, all sizes and all nationalities. We need to allow women to feel comfortable in who they are.”

Freud, pictured below, believes the issue lies in the pay gap. “The real thing about equality between men and women is fair pay,” she says.

Saunders points out the fashion industry’s representation is where gender inequality needs to be addressed. “We need to be really careful with the images we produce,” he says in the video. “Something that empowers women rather than making them look weaker and more fragile.”

As for Moralioglu, he has high hopes for gender equality in the fashion industry. “I’d like to think the world is evolving into a place where your sex isn’t going to limit you in any way, shape or form,” he says in the video.

Emma agrees, but explains that it’s a slow transformation. “I think it’s really improving,” Emma says of the industry. “I’ve seen some very positive steps towards equality in the industry. I think there’s a lot of racism, I think there’s a lot of sexism. I’d really really love to see a more diverse representation of women and men in any way that makes them feel empowered.”

We totally love Emma and her insistence to make gender equality a conversation in all areas of life. The fashion industry is an incredibly important facet of life to talk about, especially as it controls many of the images and stereotypes put into the media. Thanks, Emma, as always, for tirelessly fighting sexism and asking the tough questions that many are too afraid to address. Check out the full video below, and for more information on Emma’s HeForShe campaign, go to the website here.

(Images via YouTube.)