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Banana Republic x HFR Launch

Source: Harlem’s Front Row / Harlem’s Front Row

Last month, Harlem’s Fashion Row made headlines during New York Fashion Week when they celebrated their 13th annual Style Awards and fashion show event with the bold theme “Black Is The New Black.” The theme was meant to celebrate Black creativity and bring awareness to the fact that it’s always been here, especially in fashion, even if it’s been ignored by the industry in the past.

To build on the momentum from last month’s successful fashion week, HFR is now proud to announce the launch of their new Designer Competition in partnership with  Banana Republic. This week, HFR and Banana Republic launched an open casting call in search of the next breakout designer of color to produce a capsule collection. The branded partnership will provide exposure to creative designers of color while creating a unique opportunity that otherwise may not have existed for these individuals.

This marks the second consecutive year that Banana Republic’s parent company, the Gap Inc. brand, has partnered with Harlem’s Front Row to celebrate and collaborate with Black fashion designers. The new partnership officially kicked off in February at the HFR Fashion Summit in NYC where HRH’s founder and CEO Brandice Daniel shared the work they are doing to make the fashion industry more inclusive.

“In an industry that has major challenges with racial equity, it’s imperative that a retail leader such as Gap Inc. step up and take on this challenge by partnering with HFR to increase programming for a multicultural audience, build relationships with diverse talent,” said Daniel during the February fashion summit. “Stay tuned because this will be one of our most exciting years to date!” 

For Harlem’s Fashion Row and Banana Republic’s joint competition, only one winner will be selected as the next breakout designer. The winning designer will be announced on Harlem’s Fashion Row’s platform and have the opportunity to create a capsule collection that will launch on September 22, 2021. The competition will only focus on designers of color who design for both men and women and are based in the United States.

As Kisha Modica, Head of Equality & Belonging at Gap Inc., said in February at the original partnership unveiling, “Black designers play a vital role in the creation of fashion trends that shape our culture generation after generation, and we’re proud to lift up their work and support a pipeline to success,” and we couldn’t agree more!

The application period is open from now until October 20, 2020. Interested designers can apply on Harlem’s Fashion Row website HERE.

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Banana Republic x Harlem’s Fashion Row Launch Competition For BIPOC Designers  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com