Fresco’s designs honor Black radical history through the use of imagery that invokes the story of the fight for Black liberation. This Black History Month, Levi’s honors the past, the present, and the future. Encouraging us all to reflect on the three questions outlined on the back of the crewneck: “What legacy do you continue? What are you fighting for? What do you love?”
Fresco Steez began organizing at 14 years old. For almost a decade, she’s committed herself to curating spaces dedicated to building Black political power and designing the fundamental tools necessary to organize young Black folks to take action. This summer, she created masks worn by activists across the country during the uprisings for the movement for Black lives. This past winter, she made jackets to keep election protectors safe. Steez is often compared to Emory Douglas, graphic artist and Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, because she creates instruments that are essential in raising the collective consciousness of the Black community.
Earlier this month and in collaboration with Levi’s® Beauty of Becoming Series, Levi’s® launched the Levi’s® x Fresco Steez collaboration for Black History Month. Levi’s® partnered with Fresco, a designer, organizer, and cultural engineer, to create a range of customization graphics that honor the deep legacy of Black political struggle while responding to the millions of people who took to the streets in defense of Black lives during the summer of 2020 and throughout the decades before.
The letter design across both the Levi’s® x Fresco Steez crewneck and Trucker Jacket intentionally replicates the Memphis strike signs of 1968 during the Civil Rights Movement. Fresco brings the classic Levi’s® sweatshirt to life, drawing inspiration from the West African value of Sankofa. The patch on the right arm sleeve of the Levi’s® x Fresco Steez Trucker Jacket is a reference to the Combahee River Collective Statement, a foundational text to the Black feminist radical tradition. On the right side of the jacket’s chest, Fresco united the text “Black Lives Matter” with the Pan-African flag, a symbol first created by political activist Marcus Garvey to represent the African diaspora. The graphic on the left side of the chest pays homage to currently exiled freedom fighter Assata Shakur, whose words have shaped generations of political thought. The bold graphic across the back of the Trucker features the rallying cry, “All power to the people!” and pays homage to the many Black organizations that used the panther as a symbol of freedom.
Levi’s® x Fresco Steez collaboration for Black History Month is available HERE on Levi.com
