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Here’s to Black women making history. ESSENCE reports that Pamela Culpepper just became luxury fashion brand Prada’s newest board member, and she makes history as the first Black woman to do so in its 109-year history. Along with Anna Maria Rugarli, Culpepper was appointed as the Independent Non-Executive Director of Prada S.p.A., the parent company of Prada. Both were chosen based on their backgrounds in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). They will support the Board of Directors with sustainability assessments and any decisions based on the three courses of action at the core of the company’s ESG strategy, which include people, environment, and culture.
Malika Savell is the new Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for PRADA North America, according to a press release from the PRADA Group. Savell will be responsible for developing strategies, policies, and programs to make sure there is a diverse representation of cultures and perspectives for the company at all levels. She will be in charge of working with the Group’s global leadership to strengthen the inclusive advancement and culture for the company’s talents while reporting to Marcelo Noschese, Prada USA CEO. Previously, Savell was the Director of Cultural Diversity, Partnerships and Engagement at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. According to PressReader , she was named to Event Marketers’ 35 Under 35, a list that highlights the top 35 experiential marketers in the U.S. under the age of 35. In her new role, she will work closely with Prada’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council which is chaired by award-winning writer, producer, and director, Ava DuVernay,...
Model and influencer Wisdom Kaye understands the power of using social media as a creative outlet. That realization led Forbes to name him one of its 2025 Top Creators, ranking him at No. 48 with reported earnings of $5 million. Kaye, a former electrical engineer, sometimes skipped classes to create content that allowed him to experiment with different ideas and styles in fashion. That experimentation has blossomed into a successful career as a content creator, earning the 24-year-old 13.7 million followers on his primary TikTok account alone (as of the time of this writing). In an interview with Forbes, he shared that his passion for making content dates back to childhood. “I started doing this essentially when I was a child,” Kaye told Forbes. “I mean, my earliest memory of making content — It was not really content, was for myself — but I had a Nintendo, and I would just make videos on my Nintendo…I was a kid just creating and trying to express myself artistically.” He also added...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Recent viral videos on TikTok by Chinese wholesalers are claiming that luxury handbags and other items are made in China . This is a strong assertion when the trade war between the United States and China has consumers thinking about how much more they will have to pay for everyday items, as well as more frivolous purchases. Luxury goods aren’t as necessary when compared to food, clothes, and certain machinery. However, in recent years, consumer purchasing habits have diverged among various generations. Some Millennials and Gen-Z are focused on splurging on regular items like coffee and little treats, so spending money on big-ticket items has taken a backseat. Even so, while luxury goods have a higher mark-up in price based on brand recognition, many still use quality items to construct their products. For example, Hermés, the French luxury house, does not manufacture its bags in China, according...
Damson Idris is a British actor best known for his roles in projects such as “Snowfall” and “Outside The Wire,” as well as a few other front-and-center placements in productions such as “ Black Mirror .” Despite having amassed only a handful of prominent roles, Idris seems to be playing his cards right in his career, taking a real quality over quantity approach. This is evidenced by his impressive net worth, which is said to clock in at $10 million to $13 million, according to a write-up in Tuko . With under 2 dozen screen acting credits on IMDb, this nest egg is clearly an impressive feat. But Damson Idris hasn’t amassed his entire fortune on salary alone, as he has also made a large sum off of endorsement and brand deals , his modeling career, and a few other key investments along the way. Let’s take a moment to examine the multiple streams of income developed by the 32 year old actor, and better understand how he’s developed this generational wealth in such a brief period of...
Disruptors, in the evolutionary sense of the word, are people who have abandoned the status quo. They thrive in their differences and are typically unbothered by the societal boundaries designed to box them in. There are countless examples of these people in the world, but one clear example is Tyler, the Creator. Evidenced by his stage name, Tyler Gregory Okonma is a California native and award-winning producer and musical artist. He burst onto the scene co-founding the Hip-Hop collective Odd Future and releasing his debut mixtape 2009, titled “Bastard.” However, it was in 2011 when he released his first studio album, “Goblin,” that he started getting noticed. Reflecting, he acknowledged his musical growth and was honest about his work then. In a conversation on the “Rap Radar Podcast,” Tyler was pretty candid that while his lead single, “Yonkers,” is still one of his favorites, the album itself was not his favorite body of work. “Bro, ‘Goblin’ is f-cking terrible, but I still love...
Some business deals are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! For rapper Lloyd Banks, it was his sophomore album, “Rotten Apple,” that afforded him the biggest advance he has ever seen. The former G-Unit emcee revealed that the 2006 project laced his pockets with around $1 million before it even dropped. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rap Radar (@rapradarpodcast)
The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) of the State University of New York (SUNY) has joined forces with influential partners and brands in the fashion and creative industries to help tackle the systemic issues that the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community face in their respective spaces. On Dec. 8, FIT launched the Social Justice Center (SJC), a f irst-of-its-kind higher education initiative for BIPOC p re-college youth, college students, and creative industry professionals, according to a press release provided to AfroTech. Behind the SJC’s launch are its founding partners PVH Corp., Capri Holdings Limited, and Tapestry, Inc., which each have pledged $1 million for FIT’s mission to increase opportunity and accelerate social equity within the creative industries for the BIPOC community. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tapestry, Inc. (@tapestry) Leading brands including Ralph Lauren, Prada, Saks, Target, and G-III Apparel Group have also committed...
Not many heads turned when Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z were spotted hanging out in the Hamptons this past August. However, now, there’s much talk about Dorsey’s Square, Inc. reportedly acquiring Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal. According to Bloomberg, negotiations are being held to push for diversity for the platform. The music mogul acquired Tidal for $56 million in early 2015, and an unidentified source believes the sale to be imminent. Currently, Tidal struggles to outpace or even keep up with other music-streaming services. Its main draw, besides Hov’s extensive catalog, is its exclusive access to runway shows, the RapRadar podcast, and other live stream series. Still, it hasn’t gained massive popularity like Spotify and Apple Music. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TIDAL (@tidal) Bloomberg reports that Dorsey’s intentions are to develop several stand-alone brands under the Square umbrella. As a result, if Square acquires Tidal, it will only help broaden the...
After Gucci released their “blackface sweater” which outraged many consumers, some stopped supporting the brand. If you’re looking for worthy luxury clothing brands to follow, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our list of Black-owned luxury clothing brands that you can support instead of brands like Gucci and Prada that refuse to act right. 5 BLACK OWNED LUXURY CLOTHING BRANDS FRANCES GREY Frances Grey offers a line of custom, statement hats that embody “simplicity and timeless sophistication”. The hats are designed by Debbie Lorenzo. Debbie is of Jamaican descent. She was born and raised in Queens, New York City. Her Caribbean upbringing is what informed her personal style and her inspiration as a designer today. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Frances Grey Hats ? (@frances.grey) SOUS SUS SOUS SUS is a Black woman-owned exotic handbag company from designer Sharlena Bernard. SOUS SUS bags are elegant, sophisticated, versatile, and the new tradition for the 21 st...
Before her career start as an entrepreneur, Ayesha Curry was a mother and a wife just trying to get her family and friends to eat healthier. Now six years later, she’s managed to turn a passion project into a growing business empire with several barbecue-focused chain restaurants, a best-selling cookbook, her own series on the Food Network, and a newly announced lifestyle magazine. Curry didn’t fade into her husband’s shadow, she created her own businesses and opportunities all from scratch. She took her video-blogging hobby of cooking and grew it into a YouTube channel with over half a million subscribers. This would eventually lead to a successful cookbook that turned her into a well-respected businesswoman running a holistic lifestyle brand. Curry realized the value of what would come to be her business empire when she started receiving gifts in the mail from various companies. “There’s this business called Freshly Picked Moccasins, and I was obsessed. I got a box one day, and it...