After featuring a star-studded cast last year, Coach took a different approach for its 2023 Pride campaign. It corralled a group of micro influencers and creatives, as well as youths from the brand’s charity partner Hetrick-Martin Institute, in Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove — two history summer playgrounds for the LGBTQ community.
The goal: to inspire confidence in others under its “Courage to Be Real” mission. Additionally, the companion capsule collection features a series of bags with graphics that spotlight local LGBTQ-owned businesses in the area, including the Blue Whale, where the historic Tea Dance originated in 1966, and Belvedere Guest House for Men, a gay men’s hotel established in 1957.
“It was sweet to get to celebrate with friends and show everyone what queer joy can look like,” said Ashley Lukashevsky, an artist who appears in the campaign. “Queer people in this country are under immense legislative attack — especially trans folks — and we need to support organizers who are working to protect the trans community.”
It’s an apt time as the trans community and their advocates are facing growing hostility and punitive legislation — from boycotts to closures of cabaret stages and banning participation in sports — all fueled by misinformation and phobia. And companies such as Target, Kohl’s, Adidas and Nike have recently been hit with a right-wing backlash regarding their Pride product and marketing.
Nevertheless, the paradigm of Pride Month is changing in 2023 as awareness of diverse queer identities and gender expressions have gained visibility.
Now, companies are strategizing around creating safe spaces and conversations aimed at queer consumers that celebrate their individuality and demonstrate to consumers that they are more than just patrons in Pride Month products — they are authentic partners.
In fact, some of the new collections are fully immersed in the LGBTQIA+ community — from ideation to execution — enlisting queer artists and independent small businessowners to design the products, along with offering context that the designs are inspired by the community’s lived experiences and not just standard-issue rainbow fare.
For the accompanying campaigns, some brands have looked to LGBTQAI+ community organizers, activists and micro-influencers to serve as ambassadors — utilizing them as more than just the face. They are supplementing the creative assets with testimonials that span struggles, self-acceptance, empowerment, identity and, simply, joy.
Together, it enriches and amplifies the relationships with the consumer and the charity beneficiaries by creating conversations and visibility around their issues, explained Yaseen Eldik, executive advisor for diversity, equity and inclusion at Fixer Advisory. The agency works with Veronica Beard, CFDA and Tanger Outlets for corporate culture work.
“It’s almost as if you’re trying to decrease the gap between the communities that are being served and the companies that are trying to serve them, so that the message is authentic, it’s honest and it’s responsive,” Eldik added.
He noted that staff involvement is also a critical component to provide opportunities for employees to be “engaged and to participate, and to bring their voices to this work, so it shouldn’t just be a top-down mandate.”
Cole Haan took that exact approach to its new Pride collection, allowing staff to be the storytellers. “As part of Cole Haan’s embrace of the LGBTQIA+ community, the brand asked our employees to convey what Pride symbolizes to them,” said David Maddocks, brand president. “Volunteers throughout the company received the limited-edition product and their responses will be featured on our social media and email channels, providing an all-inclusive perspective on the collection.”
The proactive approach demonstrates to the queer consumer that a brand’s involvement in Pride Month has credibility.
Here is a detailed look at the strategies and voices contributing to other Pride initiatives at Dr. Martens, Vans, Teva and Saks Off 5th.
For Pride. Then. Now. Always.
Uniting with independent artists has given Dr. Martens’ Pride collection a look that’s as unique as the community it’s courting. In previous years, the brand’s iconic footwear silhouettes were given standard rainbow flag details, but for 2023 the brand embraced a makeover with three queer artist-collaborators.
“The artists we’ve selected are so unapologetically themselves and encourage others in their communities to do the same,” said Sara Lahaie, manager of U.S. PR and brand events for Dr. Martens. “It was also important to work with artists who represent different parts of the queer community to bring attention to both the similarities and uniqueness of community members’ journeys, with the hope that consumers will feel a sense of connection and home within the storytelling.”
Its first release in May featured Japanese illustrator Fuyuki Kanai using the 1460 boot as his manga-inspired canvas to represent “a happy and peaceful world” without judgment and discrimination.
It was followed by L.A.-based artist Loveis Wise, who was inspired by trans and nonbinary representation and chose to give the Jadon boot a whimsical makeover with dream-like colors and graphics emblazoned with “love is a gateway, love is a portal, love is something we all can connect with.”
Previously, Loveis Wise, who identifies as nonbinary, worked with Dr. Martens on murals seen in New York’s Herald Square and on Abbot Kinney in L.A., so it was an organic partnership. Loveis Wise said they “admire” the brand and its ethos. “We are also giving back to the community who built it,” they said, referencing how Dr. Martens was embraced early by the LGBTQAI+ community. “This limited-edition boot for me is a dream and kind of like a love letter to how I view community and how love is what holds us together.”
Together As Ourselves
For 2023, Vans celebrated the diverse experiences and identities of LGBTQIA+ people in a campaign and collection that included queer indie musicians Tegan and Sara; lyricist Kae Tempest, who identifies as nonbinary; and gender-nonconforming poet Tyris Winter.
The brand’s Pride collection webpage includes interviews and profiles with the ambassadors, sharing insight about what empowerment means to them and what they believe are the most important issues the queer community faces.
Carly Gomez, Vans VP of global brand management, said, “As we’ve looked to empower and uplift stories of creative self-expression and discovery, this has included our support in championing the LGBTQIA+ community. As an ally to this community, we remain committed to being actively engaged with them on important topics, as well as how we support and uplift the mission of local LGBTQIA+ nonprofits closely tied to our brand purpose.”
Much like its year-long commitment to the queer community, the capsule collection is rolling out beyond June, including pieces designed by Winter that will drop in October.
“The team has been such an incredible support to me and my art, and I am so grateful to partner with them to create more magic,” Winter shared. “I am honored to be a part of the community to share my passions, my story and my mission — which is to share the joy of living authentically.”
This year, Vans is donating $200,000 to organizations committed to advocating for and providing the space and access needed to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community.
Fabulous Fluidity
For the past three years, Saks Off 5th has worked with charity partner The Phluid Phoundation on gender-neutral capsules, events and more. This time around, for Pride Month, the retailer focused on the organization’s nonprofit partner, For the Gworls, to highlight one of the most vulnerable sub-communities of the LGBTQIA+ umbrella: Black transgender people.
“This campaign stands out to us because with everything happening in the world, it felt like a time to provide this community a platform to have their story heard,” said Ting Ting Lee, VP of creative at Saks Off 5th. “It’s ultimately a story that everyone can relate to because it’s one of radical acceptance.”
Genderqueer artist and activist Asanni Armon, the founder of For the Gworls, stars in the campaign creative alongside members of the trans community. Armon’s organization helps provide support for gender-affirming health care for Black transgender people through fundraisers from parties.
“Everyone that’s in the video is someone who is involved with our community in some way, shape or form,” said Armon. “I’m really thankful for the team to give me the opportunity to handpick people who were super-important to building FTG to what it’s become.”
The partnership between Saks Off 5th and The Phluid Phoundation includes an exclusive capsule collection designed by both teams, with all net proceeds (up to $50,000) to be donated to The Phluid Phoundation that helps support For the Gworls.
Adventure Out
As outdoor brands are beginning to recognize and communicate to overlooked diverse communities, Teva elevated its messaging for Pride 2023, extending that reach to the intersectionality of BIPOC and queer identities.
“We believe that the outdoors is an ideal place to model inclusivity,” said Anders Bergstrom, VP and global GM of Teva footwear at Deckers Brands. “Many communities, including BIPOC and LGBTQI+, haven’t always seen themselves reflected in the images and iconography of the outdoors. Thankfully, that is now changing, and we’re proud to play some part in that change.”
Other changes for Teva in 2023 include a donation of $20,000 to Camp Outdoors, an organization dedicated to helping people of color and LGBTQAI+ youth develop leadership skills and experience the outdoors. It’s a new partner for Teva after working with The Trevor Project last year.
Additionally, the brand’s campaign includes influencers Coco and Breezy, who identify as Black queer women, and the Wander Boys, a “traveling queer fraternity.”
“A lot of times when brands want to capture the attention of these communities, they’re doing it from the perspective of someone who’s not in the community, so it doesn’t necessarily feel authentic or tell the full story,” said Breezy, who models the new Hurricane XLT2 Ampsole Brite all-gender sandal alongside Coco in a series of visuals and interviews. “I’m grateful that they gave us the space to tell our full story in our campaign. Our campaign featured a lot of diversity — I don’t even like using that word — but when it comes to hiking, you don’t really get to see people like us.”
Also, Teva debuted a version of its Classic Original Universal sandal with the transgender flag’s pink, blue and white color palette. “When we speak about an inclusive, modern outdoors, we mean it,” Bergstrom added. “The trans community has been and is being subjected to exclusion and that doesn’t work for us.”
