By designing a uniform for the American students of the No Label Academy, a program at Harvard University, in partnership with rapper IDK, Dior has pulled off a fine inclusion operation. Its parent company, the Lvmh group, had already launched its own training school for the underprivileged, this time in France.
In music too, clothes make the man…
Aware of the confidence that a nice outfit can give to those who wear it, Dior has just joined a great inclusion operation by dressing the students of the No Label Academy. in partnership with rapper IDK.
Launched last year by the eponymous association, in association with British-American rapper and producer Jason Mills, aka IDK, the No Label Academy aims to “make music education accessible to as many people as possible”.
25 students
A short program – a tuition-free, two-week music business course offered at the end of the summer – was launched at the Harvard School of Engineering and the Harvard Museum of Arts.
And for this second academic year, the 25 new students taking part have the chance to sport a preppy silhouette, both classy and casual, signed by Dior.
Kim Jones, artistic director of Dior’s men’s lines, and IDK created “exclusive uniforms” that make students feel like full-fledged members of Harvard’s elite.
The uniforms feature the prestigious American university’s signature color palette, ranging “from burgundy to cream to navy blue”, as well as Dior’s “House fundamentals” and IDK’s “creative singularity”.
Exceptional collaboration
The pieces on offer, in Sea Island cotton, sweatshirt t-shirt and chino pants, also feature a patch illustrating this exceptional collaboration. Finally, students at the No Label Academy will be able to take a good step towards success thanks to a pair of Dior Explorer loafers, adorned with “CD Diamond or Dior Oblique graphics”.
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“The aim of this project is not only to support No Label Academy students by providing them with a uniform/casual outfit, but also to show that underrepresented groups have a place at Harvard and other prestigious schools,” IDK explained in a statement. This initiative will allow us to take the next step in our fight against the barriers faced by people of color who want to study at a great university.”
IDK also told US magazine WWD of his ambitions for No Label Academy. “I’d like to do more than 10 days, more than a semester and more than Harvard. My goal in ten years is to be in all 50 states, at Ivy League schools, HBCUs and top tier universities, and not just be the teacher. I would be able to create a program that others could teach.”
Vocational Institute for Employment (LIVE)
An inspiring inclusive project that was preceded by at least one other large-scale one, launched by the Lvmh group, this time in France. At the end of 2019, the world leader in luxury goods launched the Institut des Vocations pour l’Emploi (LIVE), chaired by Brigitte Macron, which “offers people who have experienced a long period of inactivity, whether chosen or suffered, the opportunity to build a new professional future.”
Accessible free of charge, based on a pedagogical frame of reference developed with the help of a committee of qualified personalities, and designed to be “demanding and comprehensive”, LIVE’s personalized support “combines general, social and societal skills, culture and a professional project”.
Since the first campus opened in Clichy-sous-Bois, three others have been opened in Valence, Roubaix, within the Jean-Arnault campus shared with EDHEC, and finally, last June, in Marseille. Since the opening, over 900 people have already benefited from LIVE support, with 80% finding employment or training on completion.
The next academic year on the 4 campuses will start on September 18.
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Front page photo: © Dior x No Label Academy
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