An ever-growing directory of black-owned businesses to support today and always
Interior space curated and designed by BLK MKT Vintage. Photo: BLK MKT Vintage There are lots of ways to support the struggle against police brutality. You can donate money to a local, grassroots organization. You can join a protest, if you feel you can do so safely. You can educate yourself and, if you are white, talk to other white people about racial justice.
BeautyStat Cosmetics Ron Robinson worked as a cosmetic chemist for big beauty brands like Lancôme, Clinique, and Estée Lauder for decades before launching BeautyStat. After just a few weeks of daily use, their vitamin C serum helped me fade some dark marks caused by early quarantine stress picking, and they also have an eye cream I’m itching to try. —Dominique Pariso
Hanahana Beauty Hanahana Beauty, founded by Abena Boamah-Acheampong, is a clean beauty brand that sustainably sources its shea butter and pays double the fair-trade price to their suppliers. Their shea butter comes in a variety of scents, including vanilla lavender, amber vanilla, and eucalyptus, but lemongrass is a favorite of Strategist beauty writer Tembe Denton-Hurst, because “it literally smells like summer.” They also make a face scrub, lip treatment, and an exfoliating bar. —D.P.
Lauren Napier Beauty Lauren Napier, former celebrity makeup artist, created a line of face wipes that don’t strip the skin and instead hydrate it as it takes off makeup. She created a different texture for the wipes, and they’re individually packaged, so they don’t dry out. They’re the ones I always buy for myself. —C.A.
Unsun As pointed out in our list of sunscreens for darker skin tones, Unsun, founded by Katonya Breaux, is one of the few sun protection brands founded by a black woman. This came expert-recommended as one of the best tinted mineral formulas out there that works for a wide range of skin tones. —J.M.W.
Frugal Bookstore Located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Frugal Bookstore is a community bookstore with the motto, “Changing Minds One Book at a Time.” The Lit. Bar The Lit. Bar, opened in 2019, is the only bookstore in the Bronx, serving the borough’s 1.5 million residents. Clothing and Accessories The stores and brands included here come from a variety of sources: Some were culled from Black-Owned Brooklyn, a website that profiles black business owners in the borough, others are places where I personally love to shop, several have been mentioned in our What I Can’t Live Without series, and dozens were shared on Instagram, including by Teen Vogue fashion and beauty features director Tahirah Hairston; actor and writer Jordan Firstman; and Lawrence Schlossman and...
Brooklyn Circus A menswear store located in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Circus was featured in Black-Owned Brooklyn, where owner Ouigi Theodore cited “Cooley High, sports, Jay-Z Brooklyn, Spike Lee Brooklyn” as the reference points for styles carried in the store. CBAAF Los Angeles–based CBAAF’s clothes are hand-dyed and made of 100 percent recycled cotton. Their current collection includes oatmeal and black tie-dyed T-shirt, long-sleeve, and shorts sets.
Diop Detroit-based clothing label Diop makes diaspora inspired streetwear, including fabric face masks inspired by mud cloth from Mali. For each mask sold, Diop is donating a portion of mask proceeds to coronavirus relief initiatives, including Feed the Frontlines, which supports Detroit restaurants and provides meals to emergency and health-care workers. —Liza Corsillo
Golden Girly We could all use a few more lounge sets these days, and this brand, which offers custom-made matching shorts, sweats, and tops, was included in Hairston’s stories. Kutula by Africana When we talked to Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors about the things she can’t live without, dresses from Los Angeles clothing store Kutula by Africana were high on the list. “I grew up in Los Angeles and I used to go to this African store when I was maybe 18, 19, 20 years old, but they never had clothes for young people. I would go in because I liked the fabric, but I didn’t like the styles,” Cullors told us.
Madame Matovu Vintage Rosemary Matovu opened her closet-size store on West 10th Street in 2007, and stocks it with truly fabulous vintage pieces picked up on her world travels: from cancan skirts to antique Victorian slips. Rosemary also makes her own fabulous pieces out of vintage finds. Nude Barre On Nude Barre’s site, you’ll find hosiery and underwear in 12 different shades of nude. According to a feature in Forbes, CEO Erin Carpenter, a former Knicks City Dancer, started the line after struggling to find undergarments and tights that were actually “nude” — and not just beige.
Orange Culture The Nigeria-based brand Orange Culture was founded in 2011 by Adebayo Oke-Lawal, who works with ethically sourced fabrics from local Nigerian fabric makers to make androgynous pieces, including iridescent button-down tops and beaded vests. Riot Swim Riot Swim sells the bathing suits that are all over your Instagram feed. Designed by Monti Landers, one of their most recognizable styles is a cheeky, deep-V one piece, but the entire range consists of minimalist swimsuits in a range of colors from neutral to neon. —Jenna Milliner-Waddell
Small Needs A vintage shop on Instagram and Etsy, Small Needs carries ’80s-glam lace corsets, as well as timeless silk blouses and gold jewelry. Tree Fairfax Minimalist leather-goods brand Tree Fairfax offers timeless cross-body bags, belts, totes, and waist bags in rich shades of mahogany, cognac, black, and russet.
Zou Xou Shoes Zou Xou is a shoe line founded in New York City by Katherine Theobalds. Each pair of mules, loafers, and flats is handmade by an artisan in Buenos Aires, and the designs are practical and elegant. Jones Bar-B-Q If you’ve watched season three of Queer Eye on Netflix, you’re probably familiar with Kansas City barbecue pitmasters Deborah “Little” Jones and her sister, Mary “Shorty” Jones, who have been running Jones Bar-B-Q for decades. The Queer Eye cast, after giving both women and the restaurant a makeover, connected them with a manufacturer to help them distribute their secret family recipe barbecue sauce.
Pipcorn Pipcorn is a women-owned, minority-owned, family business that started as a heritage popcorn side project and has since evolved into a whole sustainable snack brand. And they’re really not kidding about sustainability: The extremely delicious crackers are made from the extra finely ground heirloom corn flour from the production of their cheese balls .
Whetstone Magazine Whetstone Magazine — along with its weekly podcast Point of Origin — was founded by food writer Stephen Satterfield with the mission of expanding empathy through food, covering everything from Canto-Western diners in Hong Kong to communal ovens in Morocco. It should be required reading for all chefs and foodies, according to cookbook author Priya Krishna, who says the magazine’s diverse and global vision “reminds us that we are all more alike than we are different as eaters.
Black Girls Run Founded in 2009 to promote fitness and end the obesity epidemic among black women, this running group now has chapters in dozens of cities and offers training and community to both beginner and experienced runners. If you’ve ran any major race in the past decade, you’ve likely seen runners sporting their black-and-pink gear. They also have a philanthropic arm supporting black women’s health that you can donate to directly.
Iconoclast Fitness At New York’s Iconoclast Fitness, personal trainer Ngo Okafor and a team of fitness pros help clients transform their bodies through a mix of cardio and strength exercises. Right now, they’re offering one-on-one and small group virtual training sessions and once it’s safe to get back in the gym, Iconoclast also has an infrared sauna for relaxing post-workout.
AphroChic Interior designers and husband-and-wife team Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason began AphroChic as a blog and have since launched AphroChic Magazine, “a curated lifestyle publication of the African Diaspora showcasing creatives of color across a range of industries and fields.
Clare Clare is a home paint company founded by Nicole Gibbons, an interior designer and television personality who has appeared on HGTV and OWN. Clare was started to make shopping for paint as straightforward as possible and offers designer-curated colors, mess-free paint swatches, and premium quality paint that’s free of VOC , shipped right to your door.
Johanna Howard Home Due to her Swedish roots, Johanna Howard pulls inspiration from Scandinavian design and combines it with the creativity she’s discovered during her travels around the globe. Her alpaca dip-dyed throw is particularly striking — it’s hand-dyed in pots over an open fire, giving each throw its own character.
Marie Burgos Collection In addition to her interior design work, Marie Burgos also designs and curates a collection of modern lighting, furniture, and mirrors that are rich in texture and color. Robin Wilson Home As an experienced project manager, real estate developer, and business owner, Robin Wilson started her own brand of textiles — which includes sheets, comforters, and towels — in 2009 that is now stocked nationwide in Bed Bath and Beyond.
Tackussanu Senegal Harlem-based shop Tackussanu Senegal specializes in handmade baskets and other home décor made by artisan women of Senegal. Gift Shops and Beyond In our research over the last couple of days, we found a bunch of black-owned businesses we that didn’t fit neatly into any of the categories above. There’s also a handful of business our writers and editors know, love, and patronize regularly that defy genres, so we’ve included those black-owned businesses here.
Manual Founded by art director Malcolm Dia, Manual is a film photo company that offers disposable cameras and film development services. Dia is currently developing protest photos taken on Manual cameras for free and donating a portion of all sales to the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
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