Thirty Bipoc creatives reinterpret the Levi’s legacy in an artistic project that will be unveiled in September 2026 during Milan fashion week.
Denim confirms itself as the territory of choice for experimentation. Symbol of equality and civil rights, the Genoa canvas is the protagonist of the new project Levi’s x AFA Voices in Denim. Promoted by AFA- AFRO Fashion Association and Levi Strauss & Co., the initiative presented during the last Milan Fashion Week, puts craftsmanship and creativity at the center by involving thirty BIPOC artists – Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The creatives, based in Italy and active in fashion across design, styling, art direction, photography, videomaking and curation, are called upon to reinterpret the Levi’s legacy as explained by Mathilde Vaucheret VP Europe Marketing & BX, Levi’s®, “This collaboration with the Afro Fashion Association represents a significant step in Levi’s®’ ongoing journey to enhance underrepresented creative voices. Working with BIPOC designers and photographers allows us to celebrate new perspectives, while reactivating our own cultural and stylistic heritage through a contemporary lens. By interpreting archive Levi’s® garments, the project creates a bridge between past and present, transforming our heritage into an immersive exhibition where fashion, culture and identity meet. Presented during Milan Fashion Week in September 2026, the initiative creates an authentic space for dialogue, strengthening our cultural credibility and our long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion.” In detail, the project, which will be unveiled in September 2026 as part of Milan Fashion Week, requires each participant to mix their own cultural perspective and
technical expertise with the heritage of the American brand. “An iconic material like denim is not simply worn: it is built. Every demographic transformation is also an economic transformation”, underlined Michelle Francine Ngonmo, founder and president of AFA, a non-profit organization which also promotes the Black Carpet and related awards, “We are talking about new consumers, new aesthetics, new expectations, but also about purchasing power and the ability to guide trends. What makes this initiative even more significant is that, in addition to creativity, craftsmanship is placed at the centre: the manual work, construction, transformation of the material. Because it is from the encounter between cultural perspective and technical competence that innovation and lasting economic value arise”.
