Harlem's Fashion Row

"When Brandice Daniel founded Harlem’s Fashion Row in 2007, no one in the industry wanted to talk to her, or anyone else, about race. It’s now 2020 and, in the wake of the horrific killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and his three colleagues, the entire world is discussing the subject. Fashion brands responded with hashtags and empty black boxes on Instagram, some of which were followed by donations. Fewer and farther between have been actual partnership announcements between BIPOC-owned organizations and industry leaders. Internally, many companies are struggling to communicate directly with their Black employees. Daniel does the work to bridge these glaring racial gaps. Harlem’s Fashion Row has been responsible for connecting BIPOC designers with major brands like Nike, organizations like the CFDA, and publications including this one. In 2018, she organized a Nike-sponsored fashion show for up-and-coming Black female designers cohosted by LeBron James. And last year at New York Fashion Week Daniels teamed up with IMG to host an exhibition of costume designer Ruth E. Carter’s work. She holds annual corporate retreats that bring together people from all levels of the fashion industry and designers at various stages in their careers. The point of Harlem’s Fashion Row is to foster meaningful, long-lasting relationships between groups of creatives and business leaders that wouldn’t typically interact in the hierarchical and predominantly white fashion system." Vogue June 2020 - Brooke Bobb