Clarks Originals launches content series to celebrate Black women

The series is an exciting collaboration with FANGIRL

Clarks Originals’ has a rich and storied relationship with the Black diaspora, a dialogue between brand, culture and creativity which stretches back to the 1980s and has featured the voices of Black icons such as American rapper Slick Rick, rap collective Wu-Tang, British MC, UK drill artist M1llionz, UK dancehall artist Alicai Harley, and British rappers D Double E & Ghetts and Jamaican dancehall artist Vybz Kartel.

The British shoe brand has collaborated with Black owned non-gendered apparel and accessories brand, FANGIRL, to launch a new platform #InHerShoes to centre diverse stories.

The content series, rolling out across Clarks Originals’ social channels,   features Black British female creatives who walk viewers through their journeys and give insight to what it is like to be a Black woman in today’s society. 

Creatively directed and directed by Rani Patel Williams, creative entrepreneur and founder of FANGIRL, the series features the stories of five Black British women pushing culture forward:

  • Mata Marielle, one of the few leading Black celebrity make-up artists who is also the founder of her own make-up line, Mata Labs
  • Priya Ahluwalia, an award-winning fashion designer behind her namesake label Ahluwalia
  • Raheaven, a singer songwriter, whose music has been inspired by her parents and Eritrean heritage.
  • Jordss, DJ and founder of Girls Can’t DJ a platform showcasing the female DJ talent across the globe.
  • Trina Nicole, dancer, model and founder of The Curved Catwalk,

Throughout the films we also see a black pathway which visually frames the women, and conceptually acts as the thread between their histories – the paths of all Black women who have come before them – and the future legacies of those who will follow in their footsteps. As a motif, this visible Blackness is a direct and conscious challenge to a society which renders Black female culture creators largely invisible.

In addition to the limited-edition Clarks Originals x FANGIRL Wallabees, the women featured in the films each wear a Clarks Originals x FANGIRL t-shirt featuring a statement on their backs which is a truth about being a Black woman today – “Black Women Are The Source and The Sauce” , “Why Are Black Women Told They Are Too Loud But Never Heard”, “Why Are Black Looks Accepted on Everyone But Black Bodies”, “There Is No Progress Without Black Women” and “My Melanin Is My Biggest Flex”

Tara McRae, CMO Clarks Shoes & Clarks Originals said“It has been a joy to be able to provide our platform Clarks Originals in order to shed some much needed light on the vital women who are shaping the creative industry in the UK”

Rani Patel Williams, founder and Creative Director, FANGIRL, added: “I created FANGIRL at a time when I felt most invisible and the brand has always been about creating space for those who feel most marginalised. Sitting at the intersections of race and gender, those self-identifying Black women are one of the most marginalised and invisible groups in society, with their contributions often left undocumented and out of the history books”

FANGIRL premiered its first documentary “Black & Boujee” in line with Pride on Refinery29 which explores the Black identity and how gender, sexuality, religion and community intersect with it.

To see the documentary’s visit:

Clarks Originals Instagram page @clarksoriginals

Fan Girls Instagram page @fangirl_wrld

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