For our latest instalment of TSW Talks, we chatted to the incredibly talented Alicia Pinckney , Global Mens Apparel Design at Jordan Brand and founder of the non-profit, Black Talent Design and Fashion Fund. Alicia started the fund to give Black students opportunities and the best possible start in the fashion industry and in the non-profits first two years, Alicia has already helped change the lives of 30 individuals. Today, we talk to her about her journey to Jumpman, how she started the Black Talent Fund, and the importance of representation within the industry. Read on to find out more, and check out the full episode below.
Stay tuned for more from our TSW Talks series, and check out our previous episode with Giulia Zed here .
I founded the non-profit because there's a huge lack of representation in the industry. So, this is my little contribution to help influence - like, ‘Hey, there are some talented people here! We just need to cultivate them.’
Welcome Alicia, and thank you so much for joining us today. So for anyone that doesn't know you, please introduce yourself and just let us know what it is that you do. “Of course. So my name is Alicia Pinckney. I'm originally from West Philadelphia, born and raised. I most recently took a job at Jordan designing men's streetwear here in Portland, Oregon. Outside of my nine to five being a streetwear designer I also have a non-profit called the Black Talent Design and Fashion Fund.”
So, how exactly did you get into industry and what was your journey? “I got my first sewing machine when I was 12 years old and I was self-taught. I taught myself how to sew. Fast forward to high school, I didn't have any art classes on my roster because I had a lot of AP classes. I was really determined to get in so I was harassing my art teacher at the time, and I eventually was able to get into art classes. He saw my interest in fashion specifically.
I grew up in Philadelphia and we had a college called Moore College of Art and Design. While I was in high school, he gave me the scholarship to take classes there. I would take weekend classes - learning sewing skills, learning some fashion illustration skills. And from there that inspired me to actually pursue an education in design.
I went to Philadelphia University for my Bachelor's degree. Then I went on to work a bit in the industry through internships and actual work in New York. But I wasn't really happy with being in America at the time, so I found a scholarship sponsored by Vogue Italia to get my Masters overseas in Italy.
I applied and won first place, which was really shocking to me. And for me that was the catalyst of everything.”
We'd love to know a bit more about your journey at Jumpman, and I'm sure the audience would love to know what it's like to work at one of the biggest sportswear giants in the world right now. “It's definitely an adventure. I feel like, being a Black girl from West Philly, you know, the East Coast, those things have always been embedded in my culture. So basketball, sneakers, all of it. I was a cheerleader growing up. And to now work for a brand where literally the root is basketball and Black culture, that's like the dream job for me as a Black woman designer, you know?”
To now work for a brand where literally the root is basketball and Black culture, that's like the dream job for me as a Black woman designer.
You said that your road has taken you across the world. I think it's three countries and six cities. Is that right?
How have you managed to fit all that in? How did you find adapting, living and working in such different places and parts of the parts of the world? “My advice would be, whether it's moving to a different country or even moving to a different state, the biggest thing is to be open minded and to actively search for community.”
What resources did you use as you travelled across the world that you could give to other people to help them? “Number one, the main tool is the Internet and research. That's how I found the scholarship competition via Vogue Italia. Another thing is utilizing your network, whether it's via LinkedIn, whether it's through social media. Have conversations with people, get to know people, and not in a sense that you're like, ‘Oh, I need something from you,’ but really look at cultivating genuine relationships with people, especially if you see them in a space that you strive to be in.”
What would you say have been your biggest hurdles that you faced throughout your career so far, and how did you overcome them? “I feel like my biggest hurdle is feeling like you have to prove yourself. Throughout my education, throughout my career, I've always been one of the few Black women, essentially, or the only. So for me, because of that, I always had confidence instilled in me to learn how to navigate those spaces.
You never know that feeling of, ‘Oh, wow, do I have to prove myself to this person?’ You never know how someone's going to perceive you, especially in places where you're one of a few.”
Moving on to The Black Talent Fund, your non-profit. Can you tell us a little bit more about it? “So I founded my non-profit when I was living in Switzerland in 2020. At that time we were all on lockdown and I was living my best life! I was painting, I was sewing, my lockdown was okay. However, when everything started being disrupted socially, with George Floyd and everything that was happening back home in America, it made such a global presence. You know, so many things are happening back home and I'm just here, feeling like I can't do anything. So I'm like, ‘All right, how can I, Alicia, look at what I have going on. What makes sense for me and how I can support in a true way that is authentic to me?’
I've always wanted to have a scholarship, but I thought that I needed to be like, a director of a director or something, you know, something really huge and making a lot of money to be able to do that.
So I always kind of sat on the idea, but then I was like, ‘You know what? Why not?’ So I started doing a lot of research and finding out how I can start it. At the same time, the paintings that I was doing had a lot of people interested. I had never made prints of my paintings but I started to make prints and I was selling paintings from Italy, Switzerland, America. I was literally back and forth at the post office. And the money that I raised from that, I was like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna get one student a scholarship in August from the money that I made from these paintings. Boom. That's what we're going to do.’
And this was in 2020. Next thing I know, I started talking about it a little bit more on my LinkedIn, and I guess I underestimated the power of my network as well. At this point I'd been living in so many places, so many companies. So the moment I brought it to LinkedIn, I had my first sponsor reach out to me: Sarah from Lilith NYC. She has her own footwear brand for women and underrepresented communities. She was my first sponsor. From there it just started pulling in different corporations.
Outside of funding, we also provide mentorship. I have a mentorship directory on the website where a lot of people from the industry, whether they're marketing, graphics, design, whatever background, they all decided to give their free time and be on this directory so that students can reach out to them and have organic conversations to learn in their day to day.
This is something that’s still blooming. I’m in my second year of this, and I just can't believe how much it's been impactful. To this day we've given a scholarship to 30 students across the U.S. and now we're looking at how we expand that to global territories. I'll be sharing more about that in the future. But I'm just really excited to see how much this is growing. And I feel personally fulfilled. You know, I feel like that was my silver lining throughout this whole pandemic.”
To this day we've given a scholarship to 30 students across the U.S. and now we're looking at how do we expand that to global territories.
You've literally changed 30 people's lives. That's incredible! And to think that you've been doing it for two years. To think about ten years down the line where that's going to be. “I founded the non-profit because there's a huge lack of representation in the industry. So, this is my little contribution to help influence - like, ‘Hey, there are some talented people here! We just need to cultivate them.’ Maybe they don't have the money to continue school, or what can we give them to have the best resources so that when you're recruiting from these schools, you have a wide, diverse pool to pull from, basically.”
How have you overcome any hurdles in creating that non-profit and throughout the journey? “When I think of hurdles that I experienced as I was creating a non-profit, the first thing was just naming the scholarship ‘Black.’ I think at the time you saw all the turmoil and division that happened during everything that was happening in 2020, everything down to the little black squares that people were posting on Instagram. So for me, I ran into an issue when I wanted to partner specifically with an entity, and they didn't want me to call the scholarship ‘Black.’
The moment I was told that, I had a weekend to think about it and I just followed up like, ‘You know what? I actually don't want to go this route. Thank you so much for your time, though.’ And right after that, literally, I was able to establish my non-profit as a legal entity. Within the first three months, we were featured in The Business Insider.
To this day, I wonder if that entity sees these things and wonders like, ‘Wow, I wish we hadn't rejected it for being called Black.’ At the end of the day, it’s for Black students. And I think a lot of people need to realise that when you look at these spaces, we are the minority in these spaces, so why not have something specifically created for them.”
Of course we couldn’t finish the interview without asking about your biggest female inspirations? “There's like a whole list of women that really inspire me. People like Portia Blunt. She was at New Balance, now she's at Reebok, but she's definitely like a mentor of mine, who’s been trailblazing in her own way. I'm always inspired. She's a woman of color. She's a Black woman. So for me, that's so inspirational to see her."
