Bossing UP

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity
-- Reginald Heber (1783-1826)

My mother always insisted I try on these frilly, puffed sleeved, and pastel colored dresses, so that I had nice things for church. She’d look disdainfully down at my scribbled on beloved Chuck Taylor’s. You know the ones my friends and I drew all over when we were bored during class. She insisted if I ever wore those “ratty sneakers” to church I’d be the talk of the congregation… I will say, in hindsight I recognize this was probably a gimmick. Surely these people had better things to do like, I don’t know, worship… But, ultimately her desire for me to look nice on Sundays isn’t uncharacteristic of Black Christian life and is synonymous to wearing your “Sunday’s best”.

Looking back at my experience growing up in the church, it would be impossible to disconnect fashion to worship. I loved seeing the myriad of colors and designs of the men’s suits and women’s skirts and the unspoken hat competition (Ms. Betty, an 85 year old widow always wore it best). Everyone wanted to shine in the eyes of the lord and convey to believers and non-believers the “gifts” the Lord bestows on us. The preacher’s wife was the trendsetter and “queen of the church”. Key takeaway… looking sharp was important. But, as we all know, looking “fly” in Black culture isn’t just isolated to Sundays. Recall how important clothing is at every level of public schooling.

My brother told me he dropped hundreds of dollars on a limited edition Nike collab sneaker, after he earned his first paycheck. I was flabbergasted that he would spend all this money on a basketball sneaker that was “too nice” to wear on the courts or outside. To him the sneaker represented so much more than casual, wearable, athletic sneakers. It was a status symbol and one that brought him closer to “the dream”.

The documentary “Fresh Dressed” directed and written by Sacha Jenkins explores the birth of urban fashion through the lens of hip hop and corporate America. In the film Swizz Beatz recollects, “that having fresh clean sneakers spoke to the wealth that you didn’t have but wanted” (Fresh Dressed, 2015). For Beatz, “color-coordinated” and well kept “clean crisp sneakers” spoke to the dignity of the wearer who meticulously selected his clothing and wore and treated them with pride. The crude reality for many Blacks growing up in the United States meant the absence of equality, opportunity, generational wealth creation, and money. Clothing and fashion has always had a transformative power. Carl Banks says, “Hip hop fashion was derived through the music and it was kind of a ‘we’re not gonna follow the rules’ mentality both in rap music and in fashion” (Fresh Dressed, 2015).

This article series works to understand the weight of the Black dollars when it comes to the athletic sportswears industry by exploring the emerging of hip hop culture to fashion and how this was in turn commercialized. In the wake of Serena Williams’ catsuit being banned at the French Open and Nike shares falling amid backlash over featuring Colin Kaepernick, the reach of Black activism and how it can influences spend in this category is clear.

We spoke about the power of the Black dollar in “A Seat at the Table” – check it out here: Bossing UP - Blog | A Seat At The Table now let’s explore this in the sneaker industry. Check out part two of this 3-part series.