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What constitutes an “It” item in fashion? While some might point to celebrity endorsements, sales, or even of Instagram likes, I wouldn’t use any of those things as measurements. If you ask me, “It” items are those pieces that everyone has silently agreed are the ones to know. They’re the pieces that, when you see someone wearing them, you automatically know they “get it”, kind of like a secret language that we use to communicate our knowledge of what’s cool and exciting to us right now.
While there still isn’t one universal set of benchmarks for defining an It piece, I have a pretty good idea of a few that have earned the title—five items, to be specific.
When the push for racial equity and “buying Black” came knocking on our doors in the summer of 2020, the designers of color behind countless smaller and emerging brands saw an unprecedented spike in attention—and most importantly, sales—that projected their labels to new levels. Flash forward nearly three years and the five names we’re sitting down with today include ones who have taken that moment in time and ran with it, building long-lasting brands out of the success of the “It” items that put them on people’s radar in the first place.
It’s not to say that some weren’t already creating beautiful bags, jewelry, and clothing well before this moment. Mateo’s pearl pieces have been gracing red carpets on the likes of Zendaya and Anne Hathaway since 2016. But for designers like Brandon Blackwood, that summer of 2020 saw the meteoric rise of his “End Systemic Racism” bags that the internet went wild for. So regardless of how, each of these five brands have experienced at least one big breakthrough moment that catapulted them from emerging to It status. Sure, you can argue that a single viral moment doesn’t ensure longtime success, but if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that the designers behind these five brands have that special sauce.
Whether it be celebrity-adored jewelry or gender-obliterating basics, scroll to get to know these five Black-owned fashion brands, the buzzy items you might know them for, and the next It pieces they already have up their sleeves.
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Anna LaPlaca
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