Kahlana Barfield Brown’s journey has been a woven net of life-affirming moments. The newest fruit of her fortuitousness labors is her very personal Nike Yardrunner Air Power 1 sneaker—a wearable ode to the connective spirit of HBCUs.
“This can be a shoe that represents all of us,” Brown stated. A graduate of Howard College, Brown was an inaugural member of Nike’s Yardrunner initiative, which honors the cultural legacy of HBCUs and celebrates their influence by way of sports activities, vogue and heritage. “I used to be within the very first Yard Runners class, and that’s why this shoe is so important as a result of it appears like a full circle second,” she reminisced. Air Power 1’s are a cultural staple inside the Black group, and Brown was decided to do the sneaker justice.
“I didn’t need to mess up this shoe as a result of we all know what a basic a white Air Power 1 is. It’s our common clean canvas shoe which you can put on with something,” Brown shared. Removed from messing it up, Brown breathed new life into the basic sneaker, tying in considerate nods to HBCUs to create a cultural relic you may put on.
Designing Her Signature Sneaker
Like a basic AF1, the sneaker wears a largely white higher, however Brown luxed it up with premium leather-based, which was a non-negotiable for the style designer.
“I actually needed it to be premium leather-based as a result of, as Black of us, we deserve premium issues, so for it to be our shoe, I needed to be sure that it was premium leather-based,” defined Brown. The Swoosh and sock liner are a wealthy brown, complemented by a darkish chocolate sole, which factors to the complexions that unite HBCUs.
“The primary commonality between us — we’re brown. Now we have melanin, and I needed to be sure that I discovered the correct hue of chocolate to include into the shoe.”. The sneaker additionally wears refined nods to Brown’s alma mater, Howard College.
“I put the coordinates of Howard’s yard on the shoe as a result of this can be a Yard Runner shoe, so I needed to be sure that we highlighted the that means behind our yard as a result of it truly is the heartbeat of our universities,” she elucidated. The ideas of the shoelaces are blue and crimson, a dually commemorative addition. “That’s a shout-out to Bison, however the crimson is a crimson colour, and in order that’s a shout-out to my sorority, Alpha Chapter Delta Sigma Theta.”
On the toe field, she indicators off on the sneaker, a considerate salutation to the sneaker that embodies her collegiate expertise. “Something iconic is signed, so the signature is me signing off on a love letter to HBCUs,” she stated.
Designing Her Legacy
A real multi-hyphenate, Brown’s titles embrace vogue editor, magnificence professional and designer and he or she closely credit her Howard expertise with giving her the famous person mixture of tenacity and magnificence prowess that she makes use of in her profession to at the present time. “On Fridays at Howard, we dressed to impress and that’s all about Black excellence,” she reminisced.
Nevertheless, her HBCU lore goes again additional than her matriculation at Howard College; as Brown defined, attending Howard was a full-circle second, steeped within the legacy of the ladies who got here earlier than her. Brown’s grandmother attended Southern College, an HBCU in Louisiana, and was additionally a member of Delta Sigma Theta. Her ardour for HBCUs was one thing she instilled in Brown from a younger age.
“Once I was 12 my grandmother purchased a van and we did a street journey the place we drove from Seattle throughout your complete United States and stopped at nearly each HBCU,” she mirrored, explaining that this street journey sparked her preliminary curiosity in attending Howard College.
“All through the journey, I noticed Howard, Hampton, Florida, A&M, Clark Atlanta, Spelman and Morehouse; and being uncovered to that actually set my intention and set my targets at 12.”
Brown’s grandmother handed away in 2020, the identical yr Brown grew to become a Yard Runner. “That was its personal full circle second as a result of I understand how a lot HBCUs meant to her as an educator and as a product of an HBCU, so I simply know she could be so proud as a result of this was one thing that meant a lot to her and I really feel like I’m carrying her legacy.”
Changing into an Ebony Energy 100 Awardee
This autumn was the definition of synergy for Brown. Along with designing her personal Air Power 1, she was additionally an EBONY Energy 100 honoree, one other cherished second that feels deeply related to her upbringing.
“I grew up going to the EBONY Trend Truthful with my grandmother at any time when it could come to Seattle, and that had an influence on me working in vogue as a result of I noticed that at such a younger age,” stated Brown. “So now to be acknowledged by EBONY is mind-blowing. My grandmother could be so proud. She was such an inspiration, and I adopted in her footsteps, and EBONY was certainly one of her favourite magazines.”
And very like how grandmother opened her eyes to the boundless planes of Black excellence, Brown is doing the identical along with her personal daughter.
