CB2 has launched a new collection designed exclusively by Black artists and designers around the globe, dubbed the Black In Design Collective.
The collection includes 10 new designers, brought together and mentored by Evan Jerry, the designer and artist behind many CB2 statement pieces such as the T Marble Side Table and the Marisa Burl Wood Desk. The pieces in the collection make up a dynamic assortment representing Black excellence in design, CB2 noted. Each designer incorporated varied cultural influences whether from the streets of Paris, Berlin, Miami, Martinique or Lagos, Nigeria across an assortment of furniture, housewares and home accessories.
The collection throws a spotlight on Black storytelling through design, CB2 stated, which has been the core of Jerry’s own brand, Studio Anansi, from its conception. Jerry and CB2 worked together to develop and showcase a global collection that would provide emerging and renowned Black designers with a wider audience.
The new collective of designers speaks for the Black Diaspora and a more diverse view of high design, the Crate & Barrel banner maintained. It also supports the brand’s commitment to the Fifteen Percent Pledge, a movement to create sustainable and supportive ecosystems for Black-owned businesses, with a goal of having 15% of products and collaborations developed with Black businesses, artists and designers by 2024. The Black In Design Collective is available exclusively at cb2.com, and consists of 66 unique SKUs across living, lighting, textiles, decor and entertainment categories. Prices range from $9.95 to $3,999.
Among the new collection items is the Chert White Porcelain Dinnerware, which CB2 characterized as featuring a subtly textured edge that references the aesthetic of hand-chipped stone objects designed by Garth Roberts of Garth, based in Berlin, Germany, and the Luana Woven Vase Basket, hand-woven of rattan and inspired by the ancient craft of basketry with its connection between earth and hand designed by Miami-based Élan Byrd.
“Our industry is evolving and it’s important for us to be a part of that conversation and change,” said CB2 president Ryan Turf, in introducing the collection. “We feel the Collective is not only a meaningful step for the brand but also retail at scale. CB2 is privileged to have the participation of several talented designers who are not only representative of accomplished Black figures in design but also of celebrated leaders within the industry as a whole.”
Jerry added, “The pieces throughout the Collective take an avant-garde approach to the expected visual representations of Black interior aesthetics. This project was conceived to allow space for designers to explore and present some of the many perspectives in which people connect and identify as Black through objects, something many designers never had the opportunity to explore or express previously.”
