Jay Z defends moving forward with the launch of his BNY SCC collection as he has been granted a leadership role that will steer racial politics with the luxury retailer. Instead of backing away from the corporation, the music mogul views this as an opportunity to use his voice to affect change in luxury retailers.
“The easy position would have been to walk away and leave policymaking to others hoping that someone addresses the problem,” he said in a statement.
In his new role, Jay Z (nee Shawn Carter) is spearheading two separate investigations of racial discrimination allegations and has been in touch with the New York State Attorney General.
Philanthropy played a factor in deciding to release the collection he reiterated. Carter’s position is to hit the major corporation in their pockets and divert the funds to disadvantaged students, many who cannot afford the holiday collection’s pricey items which include offerings from Lanvin, Balenciaga, Balmain, Proenza Schouler, Rick Owens and Moncler.
The collection’s launch this Wednesday comes with a generous fundraising perk for The Shawn Carter Foundation, a 401c3 that supports educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. The organization will receive 100 percent of the sales from the collection as well as an additional 10 percent of all Barneys.com and in-store revenue generated on November 20.
Barneys New York said in a statement that it guaranteed raising a minimum of $1 million Wednesday to be donated to the foundation.