After celebrating 15 years of Harlem’s Fashion Row and hosting another successful HFR Style and Awards ceremony, the next big event on HFR’s docket is the annual HBCU Fashion Summit. Since the program’s inception in 2020, founder Brandice Daniel set clear intentions for the program to transform the art and fashion programs at HBCUs across America by providing students with direct design expertise from industry experts. This year’s HBCU Fashion Summit will mark the program’s three-year anniversary and the beginning of a three-year partnership with Tapestry, Inc. – the luxury parent company for American fashion brands including Kate Spade, Coach, and Stuart Weitzman.
Last year, HFR hosted the summit virtually and coordinated fireside chats with industry experts like Kahlana Barfield, Misa Hylton, and Shiona Turini. This year, the 2022 HBCU Fashion Summit will cater specifically to Bowie State University. Students will get the chance to learn from Kate Spade executives, including the CEO and the Heads of Design, across different categories.
Starting September 27th, BSU fashion students will begin a curriculum that will run through the spring semester. Topics will revolve around design, branding, textiles, color theory, and the history of Kate Spade. “With Tapestry’s overwhelming support for our core initiative, to holistically prepare Gen-Z for fashion’s workforce with comprehensive programming, I’m confident we can provide scholars with an opportunity to thrive in an incredibly transformative externship experience,” Daniel, founder of Harlem’s Fashion Row, stated in the release. “The industry is vying for change, but we can only be most innovative when Black talent is included.”
As part of this year’s HBCU Fashion Summit, Tapestry will also sponsor Bowie State University’s Senior Capstone Fashion Show and offer industry experience to students through internship opportunities across their roster of brands. The three-year partnership will later expand to also include leaders from Coach and Stuart Weitzman. The new partnership will not only improve the fashion programs at HBCUs across the country, it will also aid in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the fashion industry at large.