Earlier this summer, Coachella announced they were working to expand their representation of Black voices within their organization by launching the committee GV Black. Now, sharing their next step in working with GV Black, Coachella has unveiled a line of Black Lives Matter merch designed by Black artists.
For the new line of merch, Coachella tapped a handful of artists. Among the designers are Diana Boardley (who has created designed for Grammy winners and NFL players), Nicholas Mayfield (whose work has been noticed by Migos and Lil Wayne), Supervsn (a South Central LA native who has collaborated with Nipsey Hussle), and Bricks & Wood (a streetwear brand founded by visual artist Kacey Lynch).
Alongside announcing the new collection of merch, Coachella detailed a new initiative aimed at fostering diversity withing their community. In a statement on how they will amplify the voices of Black artists, Coachella said they plan to “share our platform with Black creatives to support their brands and Black nonprofit organizations of their choosing as part of a specialty merchandise collaboration” and “continue this dynamic partnership within the entire festival merchandising ecosystem from design, to strategy, to final product.”
The festival continued to say they will foster an environment that welcomes people of color and the LGBTQ+ community:
“Deepen our work across the intersections of race, gender and mental health as they connect to our existing — transformative justice inspired — harassment prevention program, every one.
Celebrate and empower the LGBTQ+ Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community through a Queer/Trans mentor-led festival experience meant to support discussion of issues that affect the community and lead to actionable dialogue and change beyond the festival – curated by Juice x Navi, Queer +.
Further our festival’s inclusivity and accessibility efforts, including employment initiatives aimed at BIPOC people with disabilities, via an inaugural program that will host and honor guests within the community, with a focus on forwarding issues facing this group – led by Sabeerah Najee in partnership with Accessible Festivals.”
Check out the merch designs above.
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Source: https://uproxx.com/music/coachella-gv-black-merch/