Коллекция Ralph Lauren в сотрудничестве с квилтерами из Джиз-Бенд

Advertisement Alabama’s Gee’s Bend quilters partner with Ralph Lauren for exclusive collection WILCOX COUNTY, Ala. — The Gee’s Bend quilters of Alabama have joined forces with designer Ralph Lauren for a limited edition collection featuring shirts, jackets, pillows, bags and hand-painted ceramic tableware, celebrating a craft passed down through generations for more than a century. Claudia Pettway Charley, a fourth-generation Gee’s Bend quilter, shared her thoughts on the collaboration. Advertisement “The thing about it is that the Ralph Lauren team gave us freedom to create. So, it was really a great experience, very stimulating, unbelievable,” she said. Charley, along with fifth-generation artist Loretta Pettway Bennett, participated in the project through the Ralph Lauren Artist in Residence program. Gee's Bend Artist In Residence The company provided all the materials for the collaboration. “They provided all the materials for us on this particular collaboration. The fabric that they provided were fabrics that we are used to working with all the time,” Charley said. Denim, a key material in the collection, reflects Ralph Lauren’s signature style while honoring the Gee’s Bend tradition of using sturdy fabrics common in workwear. “Gee’s Bend loves cotton fabric. And we had a lot of blue hues we worked with, which kind of reminded us of back in the day when our grandparents and people like that had the overalls and the denim material,” Charley said. The Gee’s Bend quilting tradition traces back to enslaved Africans on the Pettway plantation in Wilcox County. What began as a necessity to keep warm evolved into a celebrated art form connecting mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, and nieces for decades. The quilts vibrant colors and geometric patterns, often symbolizing family history, have been featured in murals, runway fashions, and a collection sold at Target stores. “I feel grateful to be able to do that,” Charley said. “You know, being able to share our stories makes a difference to people around the world and it makes a difference to be able to touch people in ways that we never thought that we would.” For Charley, the partnership with Ralph Lauren holds personal significance. “Growing up as a small child, my mother actually would dress me in Ralph Lauren clothes when I was in junior high school,” she said. “So, it is very fascinating at this point to be able to create and to inspire people in ways that I never thought that I would under any circumstances, through the art of quilt making and storytelling.” Charley highlighted how this collaboration has brought new opportunities to the women of Gee’s Bend, a small rural community. “I always like to tell people that the Gee’s Bend women, most of them, when they first took that first trip to a major museum or out of Alabama, they were already in their 60s or late 50s,” she said. “So, you have to imagine going away for the first time at that age. And I just want to say that you’re never too old to start living your dream. Never too old to inspire others and share stories and make a difference in the world.” A percentage of the proceeds of each item sold from the collection will benefit the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative’s hunger relief program.