Steph Curry Supports Black Designers With Rakuten’s BIFC Partnership

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Shopping destination Rakuten has partnered with the Black In Fashion Council (BIFC), to help grow and scale the businesses of up and coming Black designers. The platform — which offers Cash Back, deals and rewards on thousands of brands in apparel, health and beauty, dining, travel, and more — has also tapped four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry as global ambassador.

Curry’s vast audience not only helps put more eyes on the shopping platform and BIFC’s mission, it also drives additional visibility to Black designers who deserve the spotlight. Throughout the 2024 season, the Golden State Warriors point guard will host conversations with BIFC designers to champion their journeys and highlight looks from the creatives.

Fashion lines “Advisry” by Keith Herron, “Head of State” by Taofeek Abijako, “Savant Studios” by Michael Graham, “Des Pierrot” by Deslyn Pierrot and Pierre Blanc by Paul Richards will have their designs showcased by the 35-year-old during his pre-game arrivals. The looks will also be attainable through Rakuten’s official website.

Keith Herron, Pierre Blanc, Deslyn Pierrot, Stephen Curry

Rakuten x Black In Fashion Council

The app will also feature a BIFC hub to make “shopping the look” easy for consumers. Curry’s first look by Pierre Blanc is available now, and new pieces from his forthcoming looks will be added each month.

In an exclusive conversation with VIBE, Steph Curry discussed the new partnership, his own fashion sense growing up, and the importance of highlighting Black creatives.

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VIBE: What does this amazing partnership mean to you?

Steph Curry: Rakuten’s been a huge partner of mine for, oh geez, about five years now. […] For me, everything that I do off the court is about creating opportunity, elevating and building representation in all the lanes and fields that I see myself being able to move the needle in. They’ve supported my Underrated Tour, which in basketball and golf is creating opportunity for the next generation of athletes who were in similar positions like me with amazing talent, but not a lot of opportunity. I’m trying to leverage my platform to create resources and confidence for them so that they can accomplish what they want to accomplish in those fields.

This efforts of the Black In Fashion Council and Rakuten are opening up their platforms to drive awareness and attention to these young, talented Black designers. I’ll be rocking some of their gear throughout the year in our tunnel walks and leveraging their platforms as well. It’s all about meeting with partners that understand impact in a meaningful way and coming together to think creatively of how we can leverage all of our collective resources in the best way. So that’s the mission we’ve been on since day one and now with this initiative, we’re trying to take it to another level.

I love that Black designers are being highlighted. Who are some of your favorite Black designers that you can name, whether established or upcoming?

It’s interesting because I know that there are plenty that many people might not have heard of. But for me, the ‘Jerry Lorenzo’s,’ the ‘Salehe Bembury’s,’ — the guys that kind of crossed over from fashion to sports, which is the lane where I sit obviously. Those two guys I’ve met and talked to plenty of times and I’ve been inspired by; hopefully I get to work with in some way, shape, or form in the future. But we’re trying to create the next one of those guys and I understand how much talent is really out there.

That’s what the Black In Fashion Council’s all about: the resources, mentoring and opportunity to advise them on what it means to not just be a great designer, but also running a successful business and being a well-rounded person in that respect. I think all of these efforts will hopefully go into saying, ‘Hey, 10, 15 years from now, we were a part of putting the next Jerry, the next Salehe on the map.’

How important is it to have Black creatives at the head of these big fashion houses? There’s Pharrell At Louis Vuitton, there was the late Virgil Abloh…

It’s huge. Black fashion is trendsetting. When you have these Black designers that are in these spaces, they at least get the credit for how they’re influencing the direction of fashion. Most of the time they bite off of Black culture when nobody gets the proper credit. I think it only makes brands better by getting that representation in the room and diversifying the energy that you put in there. But then also it’s just important because you have to give the kids a vision of what’s possible. They can only be what they see; Pharrell being where he is and Virgil kind of blazing that trail. Even what Toby Nwigwe is doing from a music and fashion perspective, all that stuff matters because it gives us inspiration and hope and confidence that these young designers could be that too.

Where did your fashion sense develop? Did it always matter to you what you wore?

In high school, that back-to-school shopping vibe was always, ‘it mattered.’ Even if I didn’t necessarily know what I was doing, because obviously fashion changes so quickly. If I look back at what I was wearing: the oversized tees, big polos, fitted hats and the jerseys — when I got in the league and got my own money, I started to figure out what my wardrobe was going to look like then. I had the kind of “prim and proper” style where I was only wearing suits and stuff. Now, it’s kind of the full spectrum of everything that I’ve worn in my life, but just a little bit more polished.

The evolution of it is dope. I’m sure everybody can go back in the photo albums and look at what they used to wear and what they were feeling at the time. I never felt like I wasn’t fresh, even though if I look back, ‘there were some crazy misses.’ I guess that’s why it’s so cool now to know what our tunnel walks are when we walk into the game, how we’re feeling at the moment, what season of life we’re in, what city we’re in, whatever the case is, whatever the inspiration is. That’s what people want to see. I like to take chances from time to time, but I can keep it casual too. I have a pretty wide fashion range and keep people guessing, I guess.

How big of a part does your appearance play into how you feel?

I would say for the most part, my energy and how I’m feeling obviously reflects what I’m wearing. If you got a nice haircut and you got a nice outfit on and you’re walking into the game, it’s that premise that we look good, feel good, play good. And that’s a real thing. I don’t want to say I’m stressing over what I’m going to wear next week, but it does matter when you have some intention about how you show up to the game because you do want to feel good, you want to look good. You want to express how you’re feeling at that moment. I think it all connects.

Curiously, what was the first major purchase you made that you knew you shouldn’t have bought at the time?

When I was dating Ayesha, our first date, I think I bought some Oakley sunglasses on Hollywood Boulevard. They were way out of my price range as a sophomore in college who didn’t have a job other than playing basketball. I think I bought $400 sunglasses just thinking I was going to stunt, and when I got home and looked in my wallet and it was empty. I was like, ‘That wasn’t smart.’

What was the last fashion piece that you purchased?

Probably a watch. I bought a nice Rolex celebrating the championship back in ’22, so that’s probably the most expensive thing I’ve bought. I can splurge a little bit too.

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