Back in November, Depop and IMG Models teamed up to launch a shop benefiting the Black in Fashion Council, which follows the partnership announced between Depop and the Black in Fashion Council earlier this year. This new Depop collaborative e-store sells pieces from models’ closets, featuring items previously worn by the likes of Joan Smalls, Ian Jeffrey, Kaylin Rivera Baer, Lily Aldridge, Tess McMillan, and Wisdom Kaye.
All the profits made from selling the items will go to the Black in Fashion Council and the work it does to increase diversity and inclusion in the fashion industry. You can find clothes, jewelry and bags, from vintage to high-end brands, such as Jonathan Simkai, ranging from $25 to $400 USD.
The Black in Fashion Council was established during 2020 by The Cut Editor-In-Chief Lindsay Peoples Wagner, and public relations specialist, Sandrine Charles. The creation of the council came following a piece Peoples Wagner wrote for New York Magazine, titled “What It’s Like To Be Black In Fashion.” The article received a massive response, and became critically-acclaimed. Due to her reporting, she realized that the solution going forward was systemic change.
The Council works on building a new foundation for inclusivity. To achieve this it focuses on how non-Black brands, publications, and people of influence have to analyze the roles they’ve played in helping or hurting Black people who work in these spaces.
This is all around a great initiative. From promoting the consumption of secondhand goods to donating the profits to increase diversity and inclusion in the fashion world, these are two topics we can wholeheartedly get behind. It’s important to remember that while shopping secondhand is a great sustainable practice, sustainability can’t exist without representation and inclusion, and without guaranteeing that actionable diversity measures are in place.
“Fashion is all about self-expression — a physical manifestation of our emotions, and a way for people, no matter who they are, to be seen in their truest forms,” model Joan Smalls said in a statement. “It’s so important that those in and out of the industry continue to support organizations like [the] Black in Fashion Council, who are fighting for diversity, equity, and inclusion within fashion.… Everyone, no matter the color of their skin, their size, or their background, deserves to feel included in the industry, and that’s why we’re all on a mission to change fashion.”
Depop’s previous partnership with the Black in Fashion Council launched back in February during Black History Month. For this collaboration they focused on providing the app’s Black community of entrepreneurs with educational resources necessary to grow a successful business, and increase the visibility of the style, history, culture and voices straight from the Black community in fashion.
Sustainability and diversity go hand in hand, and without one you can’t achieve the other, so pairing them up to help each other out is the only way forward. The Depop and IMG Models store will be open until mid-December, which makes for some great Christmas shopping. So, if you’re still looking for the perfect gift for your model-obsessed friend, what better gift than a piece they used to own, contributes to a good cause and helps reduce waste?
You can shop the collection at depop.com/imgmodels.