To spotlight Black fashion designers, Shopify’s Construct Black team and AFROPUNK collaborated on July 13 to present a fashion exhibition.

The Construct Black x AFROPUNK Black Fashion Accelerator is a comprehensive program created to support nine up-and-coming Black fashion designers in developing their skills and expanding their brands in a cutthroat market.

This system’s outcomes were revealed last night by AFROPUNK and Shopify’s Construct Black, giving BFA designers the choice to display their goods at Shopify SoHo in Latest York City.

“What an absolute privilege it has been to placed on this Fashion Accelerator Program in partnership with Shopify and to have an integral part in establishing these exceptional nine entrepreneurs for future success,” says Anita Asante, AFROPUNK’s Head of Global Strategic Partnerships, via press release. “What began as a seed of an idea after we saw from our Spinthrift Market at our festivals that there was an important have to support our black entrepreneurial community, has quickly grown right into a behemoth of a strong curriculum program supported by the Latest Voices Family. I’m thrilled that we’ve got been in a position to offer live training, coaching support, and networking opportunities to assist scale these fashion entrepreneurs’ businesses to the subsequent level and stay up for watching them take over the style world and beyond.”

AFROPUNK is a world music festival and integrated media platform that offers voice to the unspoken, unwelcome, and unseen. Through its yearly music festivals, which happen in Brooklyn, Paris, London, Atlanta, and Johannesburg along with five other cities around the globe, it repeatedly improves engagement and encourages conversation through content, business, and community.

“It’s been an enormous honor to work alongside AFROPUNK with this cohort of remarkable fashion entrepreneurs,” says Amena Agbaje, Shopify’s Black Entrepreneurship Program Lead via press release. “Black-owned businesses are underrepresented within the U.S., and Shopify is committed to creating entrepreneurship accessible to anyone, anywhere. There may be nothing more inspiring to me than offering Black entrepreneurs the tools and support to get their businesses up and running. I actually have little doubt that this group of creatives is destined for huge success.”

Shopify is a top supplier of the crucial web infrastructure for commerce, providing dependable tools to launch, develop, market, and run a retail company of any size.

The style show highlighted the BFA founders by showcasing an incredible number of matches and clothing by the designers. Anita Asante, Head of Global Strategic Partnerships at AFROPUNK, Amena Agbaje, Program Lead, Black Entrepreneurship at Shopify (Construct Black), and Monique Rodriguez, CEO at Mielle were invited to make opening remarks before the show. Chris Bevans, Senior Creative Lead at Shopify and BFA program mentor, was also invited. Local R&B musician Laya performed as a part of the festivities.

Mielle, Thread Beauty, and PearNova also provided support for the Construct Black x AFROPUNK Black Fashion Accelerator fashion show.

More photos below: