Nordstrom will work with The Folklore Group to better identify and engage with fashion and lifestyle brands founded by Black, Latinx, Asian and other people of color as well as those located in emerging markets. The retailer also will invite brand partners to join The Folklore Connect, which provides software for diverse and sustainable brands to manage and scale their wholesale businesses and serves as a marketplace for retailers to buy from historically marginalized brands.
“Nordstrom has a long history of curating new and emerging brands to offer an ever-evolving and relevant product assortment for our customers,” said Brian Roberts, VP of Brand Programs at Nordstrom in a statement. “We are grateful for our partnership with The Folklore Group, which provides us with additional resources to discover and connect with new-to-Nordstrom brands in support of our ambitions to address marketplace equity.”
Those ambitions were laid out in 2020, when Nordstrom committed to delivering $500 million in retail sales from brands owned, operated or designed by Black and Latinx individuals by 2025. In 2021 Nordstrom signed the Fifteen Percent Pledge as it announced a continued commitment to growing purchases from Black-owned businesses by 10X by the end of 2030. The retailer already has made significant progress: in 2022 Nordstrom reached $247 million in diverse brand retail sales, and its customers can shop more than 250 brands in Black- and Latinx-owned and founded categories.
The Folklore Connect platform, launched in 2022, has more than 100 brands, including Ashya, Nalebe and Vavvoune.
