North Carolina A&T Student Designs HBCU Apparel for Urban Outfitters

 
Ulia Hargrove

U’lia Hargrove is working hard to make the fashion world more inclusive while showing off her HBCU pride.

U’lia Hargrove is currently a North Carolina A&T University junior, double-majoring in fashion merchandising and design as well as supply chain management. Hargrove participated in a 10-week internship with Urban Outfitters in Philadelphia throughout the past summer. Hargrove was chosen to participate in the program after the company reached out to North Carolina A&T for aspiring designers to work on their upcoming HBCU collection. During her internship, she worked alongside other HBCU students to design a clothing line collection, according to 4 State News.

All of the interns worked on every aspect of designing the apparel, which included picking the fabrics, colors, accessories, and much more. The collection, which was released on December 13th, contains sweatshirts, sweatpants, tote bags, varsity jackets, and even playing cards. Hargrove’s significant contribution to the collection was her assistance in developing clothing to represent North Carolina A&T. 

In an interview with WXII 12 News, Hargrove discussed her aspirations to create her fashion brand, as well as the need for more inclusivity in the fashion industry:

“Wherever I go, I try to make sure [that] representation is brought to light in everything I do,” Hargrove said. “So being able to work in a space [like] Urban Outfitters, where you wouldn’t necessarily see a lot of representation, it felt pretty amazing to bring in these five students from HBCUs who were all black, women and men, and to be able to work in a space that you wouldn’t usually see us working in. So it felt pretty amazing to increase the representation.” 

Hargrove hopes that the clothing collection will bring more awareness to HBCUs and inspire current and former students to be proud of their unique experiences at these schools. 

Check out Urban Outfitters’s HBCU collection that Hargrove helped bring into fruition here.

 
HBCU NewsTaneia SurlesUrban Outfitters, North Carolina A&T, Ulia Hargrove