True Religion And Still Rising Corp. Partner For Juneteenth Celebration

True Religion has partnered with Still Rising Corp., a leading Black-owned-and-led creative cultural agency that serves at the intersection between community, corporations, and commerce, for its annual Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival.

The Black arts and culture community-driven festival will celebrate the tenets of legacy and freedom in Los Angeles’ historic Leimert Park Village on June 19th, 2023, from 12 PM PST to 9 PM PST. Established in 2018, the Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival is the largest and most attended Juneteenth Festival in the country and continues its tradition by honoring the ancestors that built the community through art, music, food, cultural programming, networking opportunities, and educational opportunities.

“Juneteenth holds a great deal of significance for all of us at True Religion,” said Michael Buckley, Chief Executive Officer, True Religion. “We have a lot of admiration for the Still Rising Corp. team’s extremely meaningful annual Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival. This event is a testament to the power of community building, and we are thrilled to participate this year.”

In honor of the special significance of Juneteenth, True Religion approaches its support for the event with the same care it’s had in the past for key community moments such as Black History Month and Pride Month.​ With conversation and impact at the forefront of this event, True Religion will host a Q&A panel with the Leimert Park team.

Additionally, True Religion will have a booth activation featuring True Religion products plus a limited-edition festival tee. The brand will sponsor two basketball games and round out its appearance with a performance from the National Pan-Hellenic Council of USC Step Team and hip-hop duo, AG Club.

This year’s celebration is inspired by the “What Does Juneteenth Mean to You” campaign, representing an opportunity to respect the resiliency and strength of Black people at the 2023 Leimert Park Festival. Furthermore, the festival’s tagline “Been Free,” adopted from the powerful initiative launched by Still Rising Corp., engages the community in a conversation about the meaning and impact of Juneteenth in their lives.

“True Religion is a brand centered around community and by joining forces with Still Rising, we are making a tangible difference and showing up for our customers, employees and all of those around us,” said Theresa Watts, SVP Human Resources, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at True Religion. “For more than three decades, the festival at Leimert Park has been celebrating culture, history and community and we are honored that True Religion has the opportunity to be part of this legacy.”

The Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival is robust, featuring 300 Black-owned businesses, multiple live performances, local community hires, and over 50,000 people in attendance. The festival is a free ticketed event, however, contributions are welcomed. All contributions are invested back into the community and put towards resources such as music, free speech, education, and outreach to those in Leimert Park, which remains a healing space for Black joy and culture.

True Religion in 2022 emerged onto the Los Angeles denim scene by blowing up the construction of the classic five-pocket jean. With its five-needle thread at two-stitch-per-inch process, the True Religion Super T stitch was instantly recognized for style that was unlike any other denim brand brought into the world. “True Religion speaks to the uniqueness found in all of us,” said Watts. “The brand is worn by athletes, musicians, and artists globally to express their individual style. Delivering an exclusive assortment of iconic styles, True Religion Brand Jeans focuses on producing high quality premium denim and sportswear for men, women, and kids.”

“We talk alot about this when we’re speaking with major partners or clients,” said . “You can do this really wrong. The worst thing you can do is trust something like Chat GBT. It’s trained around billions of content. Diligence around who your partners are, understanding that these AI models are actually a training around. We spent four years and millions of dollars. For any business trying to use this data you have to ask a lot of questions. I launched this company in the advertising technology space. Early adoption is super exciting, but there’s also going to be some red flags.”

“Fashion and beauty are rushing toward this technology. After our press release around digital twins, we saw a tremendous amount of interest from financial companies. Everything we talk about is consumer goods and services. We’re ahead of other parts of the world. It’s hard to know where China is at this point. They’re notorious for stealing intellectual property. There’s talent worldwide but in terms of the market, we’re far ahead.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sharonedelson/2023/06/08/true-religion-and-still-rising-corp-partner-for-juneteenth-celebration/