The last few days have been a flurry of emotions as the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery became the tip of the iceberg of what was already a dreadfully long list of names of the black lives lost to police brutality and white supremacy.
But following recent events, the Black Lives Matter movement is now on the radar of fashion brands as many look to them to use the platform they’ve been given to speak out against injustices and influence change.
Fashion Nova has pledged $1 million for “community resources and activism, awareness campaigns and other initiatives to help in the fight for racial equality and opportunity,” while Pretty Little Thing will donate 100% of proceeds from their recent collection launch with musician, Saweetie, to black Lives Matter.
Jerry Lorenzo, designer of Fear of God, an independently black-owned streetwear brand, shared his encounter with the news of George Floyd’s death on Instagram: “Being a father, my first thought was ‘I pray this man doesn’t have any kids,’” he said.
On Thursday, Fear of God announced the launch of their ‘GF’ T-shirt in support of George Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, Gianna Floyd, garnering support for the project from other minority-owned brands including Union Los Angeles, Noah NYC, Off-White, Awake, Just Don, Denim Tears, Pyer Moss and Melody Ehsani.
