Alife and Champion Team Up with Urban Outfitters for HBCU Capsule collection

2020 was a year of reckoning with regard to racial injustices in this country. While many things came out of the social unrest, something that stood out most was the increased recognition and celebration of institutions created for and by Black people. For example, HBCUs have hardly received the praise many of their predominantly white counterparts have traditionally gotten, despite producing graduates such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Marian Wright Edelman, Spike Lee and Vice President Kamala Harris.

However, in recent months HBCUs have benefitted from more and more attention, including receiving numerous multimillion-dollar donations from philanthropists, and ground-breaking partnerships with major businesses and corporations. While fashion can sometimes be seen as more frivolous than the aforementioned, it still has the ability to be used to make political statements supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and Black institutions. We certainly saw this with Chris Paul who often incorporated HBCU-centric attire into his basketball tunnel wardrobe.

Recently, fashion brands Alife and Champion partnered with Urban Outfitters for a HBCU inspired capsule collection. The campaign was inspired by an event at the heart of the HBCU experience (and the title of Beyonce’s Netflix special), homecoming. The line, which features over 20 HBCUs, pays homage to the cultural contributions of these institutions. A video will accompany the drop of the clothing line, shot in black and white and featuring a cast of HBCU graduates. In conjunction with the clothing line, Urban Outfitters will also launch a program called “UO Summer Class ’21,” which will accept students from five participating HBCUs into a 10-week paid internship program where they will receive mentorship from leaders within Urban Outfitters. Participants will also have the opportunity to work on a piece of HBCU merchandise with the Urban Outfitters buying team.

Photos: Urban Outfitters website

To learn more about the HBCU collection click HERE.