TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2021 /CNW/ – Roots, (“Roots,” “Roots Canada” or the “Company”) (TSX: ROOT) a purpose driven outdoor-lifestyle brand with nearly 50 years of history, and Révolutionnaire, a mission based organization focused on inclusivity and social justice, announce their latest collaboration, Révolutionnaire by Roots. This year-long collaboration began in February 2021 with the “Dreams Fuel Revolutions” t-shirt and continues with a line of premium fleece in six colorways as well as limited edition leather jackets and bags.
“Working with Nia and Justice on our collaboration, Révolutionnaire by Roots, has been a year-long passion project,” said Karuna Scheinfeld, Chief Product Officer. “With our shared values of inclusivity and authenticity, designing the collection together was inspiring for all of us and we feel honored to be able to use our platform at Roots to amplify their story. Since Nia and Justice have been wearing Roots their entire lives, the resulting collection seamlessly incorporates our heritage and deep experience in apparel and leather with their unique messaging and colorways. The outcome is a beautiful and meaningful collection that we think our community will love.”
Co-founded by sisters Nia and Justice Faith Betty, Révolutionnaire began with a mission to democratize dance apparel with inclusive colorways that empower all to celebrate the skin they’re in. As a lifelong dancer, Howard University student Nia Faith Betty saw the need for diverse dance apparel that went beyond the limited nude colorways to suit dancers of all backgrounds. After spending countless hours dyeing dancewear to match her skin tone and experiencing a segregated studio, she knew it was time for change and launched Révolutionnaire’s inclusive dance clothing line that served and empowered all individuals.
“As a young dancer, it was challenging to enjoy my passion for dance without apparel that made me comfortable in my own skin. I created Révolutionnaire to prevent others from experiencing the pain that comes from being excluded by brands that do not have apparel options for people of color,” remarked Nia Faith Betty, Co-Founder of Révolutionnaire. “To create a color palette that accurately reflected people of all backgrounds, I spent hours scanning the skin tones of fellow Howard students and matching these back to exact fabric colors. These are the colors used on our Révolutionnaire apparel and accessories and those present in the Révolutionnaire by Roots collaboration.”
Inspired by their impact within the dance industry and passion for social change, Nia and Justice made it their mission to build Révolutionnaire into a platform to address a range of social justice issues. Today, the young entrepreneurs have a social network for changemakers as part of the Révolutionnaire brand.
“It has been incredible to work with Roots on this collaboration. Roots and Révolutionnaire are both mission and values driven organizations that share a core focus on authenticity and inclusivity,” commented Justice Faith Betty. “When we expanded the mission of Révolutionnaire to focus on a spectrum of social justice issues, we knew we wanted to give young changemakers the tools, network, and information needed to scale their impact. We are grateful to Roots for also giving us the opportunity to extend that into a clothing line that communicates our message and enables our community to fight for a better future, while celebrating the skin they’re in.”
The Révolutionnaire by Roots collection features a signature co-branded hoodie and sweatpants available in six colorways as well as graphic tees and a weekender bag modelled after Roots’ iconic Banff Bag. The collection also includes an Award Jacket with the words Revolutionary, Unapologetic, Enlightened, Empowered, Determined, and Fearless, on it, which represent the emotions the changemakers who are part of Révolutionnaire have expressed when tackling social justice issues on the platform.
The products are available in a gender-free fit, and in an extended size range Roots created for its recently launched One Collection, which runs from size 1 to size 8. These sizes align with the conventional sizes of XS – 4XL in women’s and XXS – 3XL in men’s. The collection will be available at select Roots stores, roots.com and therevshop.co starting October 19, 2021 at 10am ET.
SOURCE Roots Corporation
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