Amplifying Black Voices In Fashion...

I have had several conversations in the past few weeks around the representation of Black and minority owned creations in western fashion market. The main excuse that I keep hearing has been

"Oh Black brands are less represented because they speak to a minority audience, in the west the majority customer is white and that is just how it is"

I have found this quite jarring especially when I remember as a young African child reading fashion magazines filled with people who did not look anything like me but being influenced by the trends nonetheless. I follow plenty of white influencers and I admire their creations for what they are which is what representation should be about.

Zellie For She

The truth is Fashion as an art form does not discriminate on race or anything else for that matter. Fashion is Fashion. How we communicate it as lifestyle and pick & choose the voices we decide are worthy of amplification is where the problem starts. I believe a lot of fashion leaders are uncomfortable with this fact.

As a society , we have muted black voices in the fashion world through disassociation. Black brands are not given the same curiosity or afforded the stage for that curiosity to take place in the first place. This is the fact. You can try to make excuses but there is simply no justification for it. Now is the time to do better.

Basics touch

How do we do better you ask?

1. Take inventory on how many brands you stock now that are black owned.
2. Associate with black creatives in the industry. Follow social media accounts, attend black specific trade shows, set up get to know meetings with people in this space, check what your competitors are doing.
3. Hire black buyers! Promote them, give them space at the table where strategy decisions are made. They can build rapport with these brands and show that you care beyond just being in the green of 'we are not racist' please sell on our site to prove this fact.
4. Create accelerators or even workshops that provide upcoming black brands with the tools to compete on a fair footing. A lot of black designers lack the social currency that would give them access to compete fairly- accelerators targeted at this group could correct the problem.
5. Stop pretending there is no market for 'black' fashion and put in place efforts to expand black creatives into mainstream.

10 on Trend Black Owned Fashion brands

1. Hanifaofficial
2. Cushnie
3. Sindiso Khumalo
4. LAPP The Brand by Leomie Anderson
5. JAM & RICO
6. Melanie Marie
7. Sincerely Tommy
8. By Chari
9. Castamira
10. Zelie For She

Thank you for reading.

Tina