MACY’S CELEBRATES BLACK CREATIVES WITH NEW INITIATIVE
Macy’s is celebrating Black creatives with the launch of Icons Of Style, a collaboration with five Black visionaries.
Macy’s is intensifying its commitment to the growth and advancement of Black-owned businesses and creators by introducing more diverse design talent into its assortment and helping diverse brands grow to scale.
The new Icons Of Style program will feature exclusive designs across ready-to-wear, men’s, and shoes by Zerina Akers, Misa Hylton, Aminah Abdul Jillil, Allen Onyia, and Ouigi Theodore. Each creative designed a fashion-forward capsule collection of spring must-haves for various private label brands. There are two men’s collections and three women’s collections.
“We are excited to work with these tremendous talents to bring truly exclusive, one-of-a-kind collections to our fashion-devoted customers,” said Durand Guion, vice president of Macy’s fashion office. “We are committed to bringing more diverse-owned brands and design talent into our assortment. We know having a supplier base that reflects our diverse customers offers shoppers a more robust experience, allowing us to expand the breadth and uniqueness of our merchandise, while nurturing diverse talent in our industry.”
The first men’s collection, Allen Onyia for I.N.C. International Concepts, pays homage to Macy’s traditions, incorporating small details with a modern, trend-forward look. The collection reflects his own personal style: affordable pieces with the look and energy of couture. The collection features a mix of clean lines, tie-dye washes, and flattering tailoring. Retail prices range from $44.50 to $149.50.
“I got the call for this initiative towards the end of the year in 2020 and I had been through a lot, just like we all had,” Onyia tells MR. “What I wanted to inject was one that I was honored to have gotten the call and I wanted to pay homage to Macy’s, but I also wanted to speak to the year I’ve had. I titled this collection ‘What a Parade.’ A parade has stages and as you’re watching the parade you get to see the different stages go by. That really epitomized this year for me and many of us, and I thought it paid homage to Macy’s in a nice way as well. I felt like I created pieces that brought color, brought life, and helped subtly touch on that story.”
“I believe this partnership is giving me an opportunity to offer the masses a better understanding of who I am as a person, designer, and creative and it’s also beautiful to see that I’m standing next to four other creatives who are telling uniquely different stories from a Black vantage point,” adds Onyia. “To be able to align myself with Macy’s and have that connection is amazing.”
The second men’s collection, Ouigi Theodore for Sun + Stone, balances streetwear and luxe vibes creating an iconic collection that tells a story. In dedication to his mother, Theodore’s collection pays homage to her through the symbolic use of the numbers 1945 and 45; the year his mother was born and the age she died. The collection features a mix of casual and elevated outerwear pieces highlighted by neutral tones and bold graphics. Retail prices range from $35 to $100.
“This partnership with Macy’s means a lot to me in the sense of storytelling and telling my story of my relationship with my mother who I lost at the age of 15 and she was 45, and also losing my sister and grandmother, so losing three very strong women who were close to me,” Theodore tells MR. “With the year that we’ve all had, thinking about people losing people, losing access, and losing the freedom to be and to explore, this was very personal to my story. We each have three collections for Icons Of Style, the first in March and then May and September, so each collection of mine is connected to the previous- which also speaks to my love of storytelling and my love of history. I think everything in 2020 is very much connected to what happened in years prior and what we took for granted, and I wanted to convey that through my collections.”
Icons Of Style will be available on macys.com and select locations nationwide starting March 22nd. The program will also feature three seasonal must-have collections with later capsules launching in May and September.