Chris Echevarria is the founder of Blackstock & Weber, a New York-based lifestyle brand that’s geared toward what he calls the “discernible consumer.” He started the business two years ago out of his apartment in Brooklyn, after more than a decade working every job there is in fashion and retail. Since March, he’s had to shift and change course, just like every small-business owner in America, given the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns across the country. And in the two-and-a-half months since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which set off massive movements for social and economic justice for Black Americans—in the U.S. and around the world—Echevarria has reflected on the responsibility and opportunity of being a Black business owner.
On Aug. 1, B&W teamed up with several other brands to contribute to a capsule collection from the Philadelphia 76ers and fashion brand Lapstone and Hammer. Proceeds from the collection’s sales will go to support the Urban Affairs Coalition, a local organization that unites government, business, neighborhoods, and individual initiatives to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities, and solve emerging issues, including those related to economic inequality.
