Nordstrom x Harlem’s Style Row Assortment

Whereas vogue is way from missing within the space of collaborations, Harlem’s Style Row simply created a brand new commonplace via its partnership with Nordstrom. The corporate, which champions variety by bridging the hole between manufacturers and Black designers, has labored with everybody from Nike and LeBron James to Banana Republic. Partnering with a retail behemoth like Nordstrom, nevertheless, hits in another way. In truth, HFR founder & CEO Brandice Daniel calls it “a celebration of Black shoppers’ cultural and financial energy.” Daniel has devoted her profession to amplifying Black voices in vogue, so it was solely becoming that she highlighted three monumental Black-owned manufacturers with this Nordstrom collaboration: Home of Aama, Harbison, and Megan Renee.

The Nordstrom by Harlem’s Style Row collab arrives simply in time for the summer-to-fall transition and options items that talk to the longstanding influence of Black tradition in vogue. Home of Aama’s signature female aesthetic is elevated by distinctive tailoring impressed by African Diaspora Dandy tradition. Highlights embody jewellery adorned with etching-type motifs you’d usually see in antiquity pottery. In the meantime, Harbison’s designs function an ode to his mom, who he says navigated society with unmatched poise as a working-class, utilitarian lady. He was additionally impressed by Simon Maris’s “Portrait of a Younger Black Lady” (1890), the place the girl’s eyes replicate innocence and curiosity, communicated within the summary color-blocking and welcoming florals of his designs.

Whereas Home of Aama and Harbison leaned into the visceral energy of our tradition, Megan Renee caught to the plain elan of being a girl. The model’s eponymous founder Megan Smith is all about celebrating daring, robust womanhood, and her assortment exudes simply that. Wearable staples with exaggerated shapes and modern proportions like silky button-ups, fake leather-based tiered skirts, and the quintessential swimsuit all depict the picture of the modern-day phenomenal lady Maya Angelou described.

Smith’s option to collaborate with HFR and Nordstrom was a no brainer, given she showcased her designs on the company’s annual Style Present and Type Awards in 2023. “Retail placement has been on the forefront of initiatives for my model, and I knew this chance would open so many doorways,” she says. “Working with Harlem’s Style Row is all the time seamless, and since connecting and dealing collectively, I’ve began to really feel like they’re household now.”

When the time got here to design the gathering, Renee discovered inspiration from an unlikely supply: a quote that motivated her to maintain going when she discovered herself at a crossroads and unsure in regards to the model’s future. “I used to be at a degree with my model the place I wasn’t certain what course I wished to take however I knew I nonetheless had extra I wanted to say to the world,” she says. “I got here throughout this quote by Erin Hanson, ‘What if I fall, however oh my darling what in case you fly?’ and that grew to become my inspiration. As soon as I heard that, it made me consider birds flying so the feathers grew to become the course for the jewellery and print. I wished the gathering to really feel very aspirational and ahead. It actually helped me envision the place the Megan Renee model ought to be headed.”

As for her favourite piece within the assortment, Renee instantly names the structured blazer and wide-leg pantsuit. “I constructed my model round my love of robust fits and blazers and I really feel just like the piece actually captures not solely who I’m however the lady I’m dressing,” she says. “It is daring, robust, however nonetheless female. I performed with the match and proportions that actually communicate to a girl’s physique and it feels very contemporary and stylish.”

Megan Renee’s full assortment is now obtainable to buy, together with items from Home of Aama and Harbison. With a powerful measurement vary of XXS to 2XL — sizes 00 to 18 for ladies and S to 2XL for males — and costs as little as $45, there’s really one thing for everybody. You’ll be able to store straight on the Nordstrom web site in addition to in 20 shops throughout the nation, together with New York’s flagship location. Preserve scrolling to buy our favourite items from the Nordstrom x Harlem’s Style Row assortment.