Shop Black-Owned Businesses
Put your money where your heart is.
We see you trying to make the world a more just place, but it doesn’t have to be all business. A win-win way to level the playing field? Take your basic online shopping sesh to some undiscovered-by-you destinations. When we support Black-owned businesses, we do a small part to address the racial wealth gap, and showing small businesses some love always provides a boost to the communities where they reside. Altruistic intentions aside—these are a few of our favorite things.
You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Interior designer Sheila Bridges loved French toiles, but couldn’t find one that felt relatable—so she created it. We’ve loved loved loved Harlem Toile since it first crossed the chasm in wallpaper form and we’re anxiously awaiting delivery of a Zoom-perfect room screen from Sheila’s partnership with The Inside. In the meantime, we’re coveting these bright umbrellas to keep us stylishly dry during Spring showers.
Sock it to me
Like Goldilocks, we’ve started getting extra picky about our basics—they need to be juuuust right. And thanks to these Brother Vellies cloud socks, our foot game is covered. Available in a range of colors, they are throwback to the days when no-shows were unheard of; we wanted our socks to be seen, obvi. Besides running her own successful business, Brother Vellies founder Aurora James launched the 15% pledge, which calls on companies like Macy’s, Sephora and Crate & Barrel to devote at least 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. Your basic win-win.
Sweater weather
When we heard that designer Telfar Clemens, designer of the legendary “Bushwick Birkin,” had a collaboration in the works with The GAP (and yes, to us it will be “The” GAP forever and always), this sweater is the kind of cool thing we imagined adding to our carts. Then COVID hit and corporate types scrapped the idea. The unisex knit has become a favorite—expertly mixing equal parts prep and athletic wear notes from yesteryear. A fashion industry friend tells us the printing on the knit is actually quite a complex process, which makes us love it even more.
On the rocks
Through Zoom happy hours and cocktail classes, we can already imagine the envy we will stir up with these ultra sophisticated rocks glasses by Estelle. Between their clean lines, suitable weight and gray smoke color, they make a stunning addition to any bar (and yes, mocktails are welcome in these beauties as well). Also, as true believers in next “verses,” we can’t help but love founder Stephanie Hall’s jump from Washington lawyer to Charleston event planner to glassware mogul. Cheers to that.
