Los Angeles streetwear label Bephie has linked with Dickies on a collection paying tribute to Southern California’s poor and working class Latina bosses.
From the start, Bephie founder Beth Gibbs said she had a very specific vision for the collection. In a conversation with Complex, she explained, “When I decided to design the pieces, I had been doing a lot of research on women bosses and, especially women of color, we tend to be in gangs. We’re different types of bosses. And of course, there’s a lot of Latina Cholas. I was just really into that at the time. So when I was designing that collection, that was definitely an inspiration.
“But when we finally decided to do some visuals for it, I didn’t want it to look stereotypical or negative because there’s so much history in Los Angeles. The photoshoot was a nod to the Zoot suit era in the ‘40s and we had a really dope makeup artist called Selena [Ruiz] and hair stylist called Nena Sole Fly and they’re both L.A.-based women, Latina women. I was on my journey of working with other women of color and doing something different than my first Bephie presentation. And I thought it was cool to come at it from a strong female angle and represent L.A. I think Dickies does [represent L.A.], but they never really make it for women.”
The Bephie and Dickies collection will launch at Union Los Angeles on May 31, 2018.
Check out the images below.
