Political Winds Blow on Black History Month

Black History Month 2025—the first since corporations in the U.S. began pulling back on their D.E.I. programs and plans in a big way—winds down tomorrow. Many brands, including the likes of Target and Walmart, have recently ended programs to support Black-owned brands at retail, among other initiatives, that began in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd (although they say the move will not affect the diversity of their product offerings). In the current environment, many of these marketers are worried about lawsuits, and some had started to retrench even before recent Trump Administration moves, due to a significant backlash from a portion of consumers and activists. There are still examples of companies, such as Sephora, e.l.f., Costco, and others, that are staying the course, however.   

One common way for brands and retailers to mark Black History Month in recent years has been to partner with groups of up-and-coming Black designers and Black-owned labels to produce limited collections of apparel or home goods. These types of collaborations have grown throughout the year as well. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest there were fewer such programs this February, although they still do exist.  

Here are a few representative samples of such initiatives, launched both during and outside of Black History Month, over the past couple of years: 

• This month, in a launch timed to Valentine’s Day, Gap offered a limited collection of shirts and hoodies from five Black-owned labels through a deal with the agency Harlem’s Fashion Row, with products sold both on- and offline. The 16-piece assortment included items from the A. Potts, BruceGlen, KAPHILL, N’Gai, and Richfresh labels. 

• Nordstrom did a similar collaboration with Harlem’s Fashion Row in September 2024. It highlighted three emerging labels: Megan Renee, House of Aama, and Harbison. The almost 40-piece collection featured shirts, dresses, pants, jackets, coats, hats, and jewelry for men and women. 

• Retailer CB2 launched its Black in Design Collective in summer 2023 to bring together emerging and established Black artists and designers to create products under the direction and mentorship of Evan Jerry of Studio Anansi, a long-time design partner of CB2. In March 2024, for example, a collection of products from Atelier Masomi, Nmbello Des Studio, Élan Byrd, and Forbes + Masters included a bed, dining table, rocking chair, and vase.

• Back in September 2022, the Mailchimp brand, underscoring its role in entrepreneurs’ businesses, paired with the Black in Fashion Council for a capsule collection introduced at New York Fashion Week, with Mailchimp sponsoring a BIFC Discovery Showroom showcasing designers Izayla, Kwame Adusei, Muehleder, Ndigo Studios, and Sammy B. Support for accelerators and other entrepreneurial programs were also components of the partnership. 

• Also in 2022, Pottery Barn partnered with the Black Artist + Designers Guild to create a home goods collection with three Black interior designers, Penny Francis and Casi St. Julian of Eclectic Home and Lisa Turner of Interior Obsession. The 25 pieces included bedding, pillows, dinnerware, drinkware, table linens, games, and other décor products with a theme of “Black joy.” 

In addition to collections like these, created by groups of Black designers, individual Black creators continue to collaborate with retailers and other brands too, of course. In the furniture space, Brigette Romanek partnered with Crate & Barrel this month, while Carly Cushnie paired with Lulu and Georgia in June 2024, to name two examples. 

While the future of high-profile product collaborations with Black designers in the U.S. may be uncertain, at least in the short term, it should be noted that several of the agreements discussed here occurred after inescapable signs of the current backlash against D.E.I. had started to emerge, underscoring that there are marketers who remain open to supporting Black designers and Black-owned labels at retail. These brands argue that appealing to all customers with a diverse range of merchandise is still good business.