Pride Month is officially here and although we encourage consistent support for marginalized/minority communities around the calendar, June is especially the time to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. To kick off the month-long celebration, brands continue to roll out their new Pride campaigns, along with new actionable initiatives and Ralph Lauren is the latest fashion company to launch its 2022 Pride Campaign.
This year, Ralph Lauren chose to highlight thought leaders within the community to continue their long-term commitment to support the LGBTQIA+ community and to evolve the company’s portrayal of a more-inclusive “American Dream”. The campaign co-stars include broadcast journalist Keith Boykin, activist Staceyann Chin, Ariel Nicholson, who is the first transgender model to be on the cover of American Vogue, and former EIC of Out Magazine, Phillip Picardi.
Through the brand’s efforts, Ralph Lauren is ensuring that the LGBQTIA+ is heard and not left out of the picture to promote a society where we all feel free enough and proud to be our authentic selves. For the campaign, Boykin shared some words on the impact of diversity, “We don’t all have to be the same. That’s important. The diversity doesn’t mean that we all have to fit into some sort of cookie cutter mold. It means that we get to be ourselves. You get to be you, and I get to be me, and we can all be fabulous together because of that.”
Chin, who is photographed with her daughter in the campaign, explained her meaning of Pride for the campaign, “Pride to me means freedom because when you have freedom, you can do other things. You can do other things that you want to do. You can have an opportunity. You can have community. You can have the space to move. You can have the space to build. You can have the space to travel. Freedom means everything.”
In addition to releasing an empowering campaign, Ralph Lauren will also release an assortment of clothing that is designed with vibrant colors as a nod to the various flags that represent the LGBQTIA+ community – customers can shop the collection in stores and on ralphlauren.com.