“I built this brand for a community that needed it the most, my own.” - Tyler Birts
The Black community is one who has experienced some of the most unique circumstances in life. These experiences have shaped our lives, values, and culture. Today, perhaps the greatest influence our culture has is fashion.
| Black consumers are helping drive impressive growth in the American luxury market. Non-white ethnic groups accounted for about 20 percent of luxury spend in the US market in 2019 — a figure that’s projected to rise to 25 to 30 percent by 2025. The Black consumer is a $300 billion opportunity. |
With a culture so strong and an influence so large, how could our community be regarded so low? While this will never be an easy question to answer there are a few things we should consider.
| 1: How they portray us |
| 2: How we portray ourselves |
It’s no secret the media portrays our community a certain way. For most, this is how it always has been, but does this have to be how it always is? It doesn’t, and I believe we will begin to change our narrative when we change the way we portray ourselves.
Instead of playing into the box they put us in, we must task ourselves with seeking a life outside of this box. A life outside of a ‘ghetto’ box is one that is high-class and luxurious. This is the life our community should all aspire to have and inspire our youth to grow into.
This is why I developed Garçons en Noir for my community, a luxury brand with the mission of progressing Black as luxury.