Pride Collections: Marketing Tactic or Beneficial?

Massive brands across the world are working with charities and support services to aid the LGBTQ community and show their support this Pride Month 2021!

From Levi’s and Coach all the way to Disney, the opportunity for allyship has never been stronger.

Many brands have been heavily criticized in recent years for waving the pride flag yet doing nothing to aid the community long term.

However, this year consumers are demanding more transparency from our much-loved brands and we’re excited to say we’re getting it.
When writing this, we decided to delve a little deeper into these brand collections to see who the companies are supporting and how you can get involved!

Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch has had an incredible 11-year partnership with LGBTQ suicide prevention organization the Trevor Project. The Trevor project I was founded in 1998 and is a leading national organisation providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth under the age of 25. You can get involved yourself by volunteering as a Crisis Counsellor or partaking in the ‘We Are Here’ movement!
A&F have created a 24-piece capsule collection including T-shirts, Jackets, Hoodies, Shorts and Accessories in rainbow tie-dye and paint splatter styles. From this collection, the brand will be donating another $200,000 to the Trevor project!

Balenciaga

Balenciaga’s new Pride Month collection has officially launched – and what an iconic collection it is. Featuring GAP-style hoodies the brand has tapped into the nostalgic 90’s kids whilst simultaneously confirming that they stand with the LGBTQ community. 15 percent of all sales are also headed directly to the Trevor Project meaning the more we shop, the more we can help the initiative with its fight to assist the LGBT+ communities that need it.

Ugg

The brands style-controversial faux fur sliders have had a pride themed upgrade brought to you by Ugg’s team up with Lil Nas X and Omari Douglas. The Pride 2021 campaign brings new slides and apparel in styles such as disco stripe, colours of the LGBT+ and trans flags and a noticeable platform.
The brand is donating $25.00 of each and every sale of the disco stripe products to GLAAD whilst also making extra donations throughout the year to the Organisation for Human Health and Happiness in Germany.

Levi’s

One iconic brand in particular show its celebration through acknowledgement and pride of a spectrum of gender identities. Levi’s manages to get this done with the effortless-cool the brand is renowned for, starting with a pronouns statement denim jacket with ‘they/them’, ‘she/her’ ‘he/him’ ‘WE’ across the reverse of the jacket.
Levi’s campaign for was by far one of the most relevant to 2021 with pronouns becoming a big conversation topic this year. Levi’s addressed the need to respect pronouns for everyone through their inclusive syntax and messages throughout the campaign. Every purchase form the collection equals a donation Levi’s is making to Out Right Action International, a company which works to advance human rights for LGBT+ people all over the world.

Versace

Versace & Lady Gaga collaborated this year on a limited edition two piece collection including a beret and unisex t-shirts. The collection launched to celebrate both pride month and the 10 year anniversary of Gaga’s album Born This Way.
Donations were made to the Born This Way foundation created by Lady Gaga and her mother. The foundation works through high-impact programming, youth led conversations and strategic partnerships to make kindness cool, validate the emotions of young people and eliminate stigma surrounding mental health.

So many brands this year have pushed their own boundaries into what can and what will be achieved to show support for the LGBTQ community through actual changes, donations and hands-on help. In quite recent dark times, this progress is a bright light showing us how far society has come and the difference we can all make.