Southern Diva

In a small rural town in Alabama, surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River, resides a community of Black textile artists rooted in tradition, resilience, and ingenuity. Boykin, Alabama, commonly referred to as Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is the home to a multi-generational quilting tradition founded and upheld by Black women. With quilting practices spanning generations since enslavement, Black women came together in community sewing together scraps of clothing and other materials to create quilts that are now famous the world over. Their organization, The Freedom Quilting Bee, founded in 1966, created jobs and opportunities for their disenfranchised community in the Jim Crow South through their partnerships with retailers such as Sears Roebuck & Co. and Saks Fifth Avenue (Gee’s Bend.org). The talents and traditions of the quilters of Gee’s Bend are being recognized via a collaboration with Ralph Lauren.

Ralph Lauren Artists in Residence Program is an initiative that invites artistans to participate in an immersive design collaboration with Ralph Lauren’s creative teams in a mutually beneficial exchange (Ralph Lauren). They recently announced their latest partnership with Gee’s Bend textile artists Claudia Pettway Charley and Loretta Pettway Bennet. The limited-edition collection will highlight the textile craftsmanship through apparel and home items.

Collection Description

The collection captures the bold, improvisational spirit of the Gee’s Bend style, including freeform lines, visible topstitching, and repurposing worn materials into iconic geometric works. Personal storytelling is woven throughout each piece, from Pettway Bennett’s recurring motif of red triangles representing her sons to Pettway Charley’s self-expressive use of color and composition (Ralph Lauren).

The quilts and clothing items were made using upcycled Ralph Lauren fabrics with denim being the focal point. Their collection also features hand painted ceramic tableware produced in Italy in patterns that provide symmetry with the clothing and accessories. The RL x Gee’s Bend collection is now available, and five percent of the sale of each item will go to Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a social justice organization based in Montgomery, Alabama. The EJI’s programming includes hunger relief and assistance to low income communities.

Cover Image Credit: Ralph Lauren