Atlanta entrepreneurs Tisha Thompson of LYS Beauty and Lindsay Barnette of Kultured Misfits came together to create a three-piece capsule collection, “Love Letters.”
Love Yourself (LYS) Beauty, the first Black-owned clean cosmetics brand at Sephora, and Kultured Misfits, an emerging premium unisex streetwear brand housed at retailers such as the prestigious WISHATL, have combined their sense of style, their love of culture and a subtle homage to Black Greek life in the drop of this capsule.
The Love Letters collaboration will be Kultured Misfits’ first female-only online offering. It will serve as a love letter to everyone who wears these styles and was designed with women in mind, from comfort to flattery.
The limited edition capsule launched on August 31, with inclusive sizing and has been carefully designed to embrace the mantras of Love yourself And We were never meant to fit in.
The “Love Letters” collection includes:
Disrupting the Industry: Love Letter Questions and Answers
The Voice of Atlanta spoke with both companies to discuss love letters, collaboration and more.
The Voice of Atlanta: How did this “Love Letters” collaboration come about?
Tisha Thompson: We’ve literally had this love affair for our brand from the beginning because we have a unique bond with Lindsay’s Director of Operations, Sammy, who is actually my brother-in-law and my sister’s husband. So from day one, when I saw him wearing Kultured Misfits (KM) clothing with all the cool stuff like their slogan “Never Fit In”, it resonated so much with me because I had “Love Yourself” and that was a match. made in heaven with such an aligned message.
Lindsay Barnette: Collaboration is the merging of two parts of the industry that always go together even apart from what we have done. Creating the song Love Letters, it’s like a big part of the Tisha brand, which is having these words of encouragement and messages of inspiration between your packaging and what “Love Yourself” represents. That’s part of what we’ve done, which is we usually have little inscriptions or embroideries that incorporate the ‘never enter’ type of message into all of our pieces. Starting a women’s clothing line is like women even, you know, whether you have makeup on or not, like you look in the mirror, you write these sticky notes or write dry erase notes on your mirror to give you an extra pep talk in the morning. The collection is meant to be a love letter you write to yourself and whether it’s ‘you got this’ or ‘you can get through the day’, it gives you an extra boost of confidence.
TT: Additionally, we wanted our audience to know that we see you, you see and are represented with us. That’s why we wanted to create a collection that would really speak to all of these people and, you know, people who are, like you said, a group of misfits like, you know, we’re writing our own history. We don’t try to follow traditional standards. We want to be disruptive, inclusive and authentic to us. We don’t try to be like everyone else, just to be our most authentic selves. I feel like it’s all about trying to be like everyone else or fitting in with everyone else, instead of embracing your own unique identity.
A V: What does collaboration mean to you, especially in Black spaces?
TT: This is very important because I always talk about collaboration rather than competition. We are better together than these individual parts. I think we need to realize that we are not the ones we need to worry about. There are so many opportunities if we come together to really build something unique and to share and take ownership of the things we typically create anyway. We are usually the ones who influence so many things that happen, but we do not possess or have any sort of connectivity with many of these things from a long journey perspective. So the only way for that to happen is for us to come together better, because when we are our individual parts, it’s very difficult to collectively come up with something as a solo individual. So by coming together and being able to partner together, we might not have gotten the attention of the major news outlets, outlets or retailers that are looking at us because we are so small as a single point.
TT: When we unite our voices, we tell this story and it shows two very powerful, amazing black women telling this story of uplifting and believing in who you are and then it screams loud for our shared voice in which we influence others women do it. the same thing. With this collaboration, we create this collective, which turns into a ripple effect.
kg: Collaboration is extremely important, especially for Black women. We have this stereotype and this truth that there is more competition and there can only be one and to me this partnership just shows that we are in two different verticals and we can still share space . We are more alike than we are different, and I know that is reflected in our personal lives and what our brands represent. There’s room for both of us. We can talk to the same audiences, talk to different audiences, and find this kind of Venn diagram center.
TT: I also think that historically, unfortunately, when we were all trying to sit at someone else’s table, there was only one, so it naturally created this competition of “I have to have the place “. So getting ahead of you is the goal, but now that we’re making our own tables, I don’t need your seat anymore. Now I have all my own seats and I sit whoever I want at this table and they’re going to look a lot like me. So, I think that’s the goal and the mission. Plus, it’s hard to raise someone up when you don’t have anything. Flight attendants always tell us on the plane to put on your life jacket before helping others, but the problem is when you didn’t have a life jacket yourself, it was really difficult for us to really help someone else. So now that we’re really focusing on entrepreneurship and focusing more on owning things and creating our own spaces. By teaching others to lead, guide and mentor, it gives us the opportunity to reach out and help others.
kg: It’s also about supporting each other, carving out space and allowing yourself to have that space without seeing someone in direct competition. It’s like I’m a subject matter expert, you’re a subject matter expert, so let’s come together.
A V: Love Letters was launched on August 31, how long will the collaboration last?
TT: With supplies becoming increasingly limited, the collaboration was expected to be short-lived. We were hoping he would make it through the holidays, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, however, we are waiting. We’re not sure, maybe it will last until the holidays, but definitely not until the new year.
kg: Even though we have few reserves, the first drop shows encouraging signs in the second round. We enjoyed working together and seeing the response to the collection, and it only makes us more inspired, like we could do this again in a year. This time, however, we are focusing on the fashion space and creating from a fashion perspective. Maybe next time we’ll do a mix of both or even go into the gallery space. So, we’re already in meetings and conversations, that’s for sure.
A V: What kind of advice would you give to aspiring Black women entrepreneurs or anyone looking to nourish their soul?
kg: Going back to what we said earlier about collaboration versus competition, we meant both in the literal sense of “who can you collaborate with”, but also in how you evaluate that that your brand or business is supposed to be in the space and what the problems are. you solve. I think for both of us it was a bit like identifying a problem and I’ve talked to people recently where this person had a grass cutting business. They solve a problem, but there is no emotional connection to it. So, I know how hard it can be because we’re both rooted in this emotional mindset of “this is why I started this”, and it saved my life. Not everyone starts their business because of that, but it’s about realizing where do you want to be in the space and do you want to be a disruptor? Do you just want to add something to what’s already there, which is okay, both are necessary, but you have to step back and recognize that you don’t have to do it alone.
TT: Knowing your “why” is very important and having a mission behind what you are trying to do is essential. So, personally, I think the first question in starting something is to identify the problem that you’re solving and communicate that to people and let them know that you’re a solution to that problem. I think that’s the quickest way to really get that visibility. It’s important to be open-minded about the journey. I think we come into entrepreneurship with this thinking about financial freedom and flexibility and representational entrepreneurship on Instagram. Entrepreneurship is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. It’s not 9 to 5. It’s 9 a.m. at any time, I feel like I’m working more than before. Honestly, I make less money now than I did before. Now, today, I’m just getting started. It’s definitely an investment of your time. For advice, because you’re investing money in the business and growing it, I would say level up, set expectations, and then manage your mindset as you grow. When you start to have success, embrace it, because sometimes I get into this imposter syndrome mentality of, “Oh my God, like I don’t deserve this,” but no, you deserve this. You bust your butt, you invest, you work hard, you work hard, but you stop to smell the roses and enjoy the journey because it is a journey.
kg: Also, if you’re not ready for a sprint, maybe reconsider your decision. Not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur. It’s not for everyone. Just invest in yourself as even for me, I still consider this very, very small, but I have made the investment both financially, but also in time and care, in the perception of the brand that I Every day people come in and think we’re a multi-million dollar company. Also, another tip is to celebrate yourself and celebrate the small victories, even if it’s not a big victory, still take time to celebrate yourself.
The Love Letters capsule is sold exclusively at kulturedmisfits.com And lysbeauty.com. Be on the lookout for more from LSY Beauty and Kultured Misfits.
