Glossy, July 16, 2020: What the 15% Pledge for Black-owned business will look like in action
Sephora, Rent the Runway, and West Elm have signed on to Aurora James’ 15% Pledge, but the industry has significant work to do if it wants to support Black-owned brands for the long term.
In early June, as millions of people around the world took to the streets to protest police brutality and show their support of the Black Lives Matter movement, retailers took to Instagram to post statements of solidarity and contrition.
Brother Vellies founder Aurora James was looking for something more, however: She asked the industry to commit to allocating at least 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands. According to her calculations, if just four companies — Sephora, Whole Foods, Shopbop and Target — signed on to the 15% Pledge, it would put $14.5 billion back into the Black community.
