Ralph Lauren, Off-White, and Express are tapping into the college market while raising money for Black college students.
This week, the modern apparel brand Express announced their first collegiate athlete ambassadors, CJ Stroud and Jaxon Smith Njigba, both from the Ohio State Buckeyes collegiate football team. Both athletes were Heisman Trophy finalists [an award granted to the most outstanding players in college football] and often shopped at their local Express store.
“I’ve been a fan of Express for as long as I can remember… Jaxon and I were actually shopping for suits at our local Express store last winter, and shortly after, the brand reached out about an opportunity to join their styling community—it feels like it was meant to be,” Stroud stated in an interview with Forbes.
Despite Express’ previous partnerships with athletes like Steph Curry, Trae Young, and Jamal Murray, the young quarterback, Stroud, and wide receiver, Njigba, will be the first NIL deal with the Columbus, Ohio based brand. Through marketing, using their Name, Image, and Likeness [NIL], they can provide financial gain for both the athletes and Express without breaking collegiate payment restrictions.
This campaign both expands the brand’s demographic to a younger audience and brings representation to young collegiate athletes of color who do not receive nearly the same pay as professional athletes, despite their similar skill sets.
However, Express is not the only brand promoting Black academia. Last month, Ralph Lauren partnered with the historically Black Morehouse College and Spelman College. Ralph Lauren paid homage to the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s vintage student aesthetic at Black colleges via imagery via silk dresses traditionally worn at white attire ceremonies, which marked students’ induction into the college, as well as wool flannel blazers which mimicked the Morehouse blazer, which was traditionally given to students upon enrollment.
This was the first Ralph Lauren campaign with an entirely black cast and crew, from creative directors to photographers and models. The models were selected from the university’s students, alumni, and staff. Through embracing collegiate styles from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the white-owned brand has taken steps towards diverse representation. They’ve also taken it a step further by providing a $2 million donation for student scholarships at 12 HBCUs, including Spelman and Morehouse, through the United Negro College Fund.
The late Virgil Abloh’s legacy lives on. This week, his streetwear brand Off-White released a new capsule collection to benefit young Black scholars. The collaborative collection between his streetwear brand Off-White and the Fashion Scholarship Fund features jerseys and letterman jackets, all sold to raise money for his non-profit, The “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund. Created in July 2020, the organization works to financially support and educate the next generation of Black fashion industry leaders. They have already granted over 40 students with scholarships and internships. This capsule collection works to collect further proceeds and spread awareness.
As a community that has been historically underrepresented in both the fashion world and academia, collaborations between brands and institutions can work to remedy the past’s racial disparities. Meanwhile, brands can extend their reach beyond the fashion community to our educational institutions.
