Denim Tears, founded by the multi-hyphenate creator Tremaine Emory in 2019, continues to viscerally explore the history of slavery in America.
Showcased through defining collaborations with the likes of Ugg, Stüssy, Champion, Converse, ASICS, and Dior, Denim Tears’s partnership portfolio has grown to amass a place in the contemporary world that blends heritage, history, and design, with the future of fashion, even earning a spot in The Met Costume Institute’s permanent collection.
This time, it's through the history and traditions of the Gullah Geechee community, with an 8-piece collection for Levi’s® exploring the rich history & enduring spirit of the Gullah Geechee people.
This collection presents a striking historical perspective, where every character, every look, and every setting evokes an autonomous examination of America’s past, present, and future.
According to Tremaine Emory, he has recontextualized the DNA of the Gullah Geechee.
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African Diaspora Goods: A Flagship Store with a Mission
Denim Tears launched its first-ever flagship store in New York City earlier this year, named African Diaspora Goods.
The store was inspired by Tremaine's life, his parents’ video store, his 15 years in retail, and the work his team and he have done the last five years with Denim Tears.
The store also serves as a gathering space for the community.
Inside, visitors can explore over 1,000 publications on the history of the Arts of Africa-curated by Lee and Whitney Kaplan of Arcana: Books on the Arts-alongside Denim Tears seasonal collections, revealing a research library filled with books, exhibitions, periodicals, and catalogs published in Africa, The Americas, Asia, and Europe that recorded the cultures of the Indigenous people from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Theaster Gates, a multidisciplinary American artist and urban planner, collaborated on the store's creation.
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Known to communicate the complexity of Blackness in his art through land development, space theory, performance, and sculpture, Gates has enhanced his role as an artist as a proxy of change through his approach as a thinker, builder, and maker.
For African Diaspora Goods, Gates took inspiration from his decade-long artistic practice of elevating, archiving, and making Black artifacts publicly accessible for a community space unlike any other.
Theaster Gates' Influence
Emory sought assistance from the multidisciplinary American artist and urban planner, Theaster Gates, for a collaboration to capture the ambiance of the store’s atmosphere.
Gates is considered one of the greatest living artists in the world, a world builder who filters the plight and glory of Black people through his art.
Emory finds too much inspiration in Gates' artistic practice-from archiving to making works accessible-to put into words.
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Theaster Gates, Creating Communities Through Art
Denim Tears' Perspective
Denim Tears has long since embraced fashion as a vehicle to share impactful stories and connect the public to the African diaspora.
Emory makes the work and moves on, not worrying about how the public receives it.
When asked about the future, Emory says that time will tell and to hope is to look to the future.
He is currently working on many projects.
The location of the store is significant.
Consider how many stores in SoHo are black-owned or have Africa over the shop front - that’s the story, being where we are not supposed to be.
