La La Anthony is all about amplifying Black excellence.
via: BET
To uplift emerging HBCU designers during New York Fashion Week, the superstar –who attended the prestigious HBCU Howard University– has partnered with UPS for the company’s third season as a sponsor of NYFW: The Shows.
The show, titled BIG MOTION, will feature three brands from Black designers who attended HBCUs, including duo Nola McEachin and Shaq Robotham, who created The Brand Label, Undra Duncan, founder and creative director of Undra Celeste New York and Chelsea Grays for her eponymous label. Each designer received a grant of $150K to use for their show.
Anthony spoke to PEOPLE on the prevalence of marginalized voices in the fashion industry and why Black designers deserve to be included.
“Black communities are definitely underrepresented in fashion, but we’re also the ones that set the trends in fashion,” she told the publication. “So we need to be supported, we need to be uplifted.”
She added, “So many amazing, talented creative entrepreneurs come out of HBCUs and I just love that UPS is committed to their diversity and really putting money and resources behind allowing programs like this to thrive.”
For the actress, being in a position to help others is truly satisfying.
“It’s rewarding to just help anyone who has a vision, who has a passion, and might not have the resources that they need,” she said. “To be able to put people in positions to win is such a great feeling.”
“A lot of times all somebody really needs is somebody to believe in them.”
During the BMF actor’s collegiate experience at Howard, she said it helped her form bonds with individuals she could relate with. “I wanted to be around people that looked like me, understood what being me felt like, talk like me, walk the same, walk like me, understand culturally the same things that I deal with and go through every day,” she shared.
