The Folklore Group, founded in 2018 to bring to light to diverse lifestyle brands globally, is now in partnership with retail giant Nordstrom. Just last year, the commerce company launched The Folklore Connect, an e-commerce tool that is widening its reach through software for brands with diverse backgrounds. In addition to a true sense of diversity to help smaller brands manage and build with other retailers and wholesale. This has made discovering new brands even easier for consumers who want to push to support diverse designers globally, including retailers who are always saying they want diversity, now they have it at their fingertips. Nordstrom is one of those retailers that strive for supporting a diverse array of brands and designers and is the largest retailer to partner with The Folklore Group to keep the trajectory of their commitment to building an equitable marketplace with little to no barriers for these brands.
“I used to spend so much time at Nordstrom when I was in high school because I loved fashion and discovering new brands,” says founder and CEO of The Folklore Group, Amira Rasool. “I’m excited that now when a young Black girl enters Nordstrom, they have more opportunities to find brands founded by people that look like them. I’m excited that now as an adult, I’ll be able to do the same and know that I was part of the effort to make this a reality.”
Back in 2020, a tumultuous and uncertain stretch in time, Nordstrom was among the lot that vowed not to perpetuate the inequitable market in fashion by setting ambitious goals towards diverse brands. The goal is to deliver and devote $500 million in sales from these marginalized brands or usually barred brands by 2025. In 2021, Nordstrom signed Aurora James’ Fifteen Percent Pledge, which was followed by an announcement of continuing to grow brands that are operated by diverse owners tenfold by the end of 2023. So far, these promises have been kept. Already Nordstrom has reached $247 million in sales with over 250 diverse brands in 2022.
“The Folklore Connect partnership with Nordstrom will now allow their incredible buying team to connect with even more diverse brands from around the world and give customers an experience to shop fantastic brands they could not easily access online or in stores,” says Rasool. Currently, The Folklore Connect platform has over 100 brands listed, including Ashya, Nalebe, and Vavvoune. Nordstrom’s efforts are just the start of even bigger feats to come.