Nationwide (BlackNews.com) — ArtistsUntold, a Black-owned streetwear brand, launched to provide up-and-coming underrepresented artists with the opportunity to promote and monetize their artwork through apparel sales. The apparel brand champions diversity and powerful messages to give budding artists a platform to share their talent. You can learn more about the stories of each artist on the platform as you browse the website. If you decide to make a purchase, you will also be supporting the artists themselves, who receive a direction portion of the profit from each sale. All artists sign off on the apparel themselves before it’s released, and quantity is limited to respect the value of each artists’ work.
Jordan Abdur-Raoof founded ArtistsUntold in February of 2020. While in college, Jordan started IvyUntold, a website devoted to sharing minority stories and experiences on Ivy League campuses. This has since been made into a campus organization, and Jordan started thinking about what he could do to continue to empower those without a voice. It wasn’t until he bought a shirt directly from an artist that he came up with this idea. Despite loving the art, he was disappointed in the shirt quality. Through conversations and interviews with multiple artists, he learned that any one single artist would have to incur significant overhead costs to produce high-quality, urban apparel.
Interestingly, it wasn’t his love for art or fashion, but rather his experience as a basketball player that helped him round out his founding team. He first spoke to Alexander Lee, a product manager, and former software engineer, to build out the ArtistsUntold website. The two had been basketball teammates growing up before becoming college rivals (Abdur-Raoof played at Cornell and Lee at Princeton). And finally, they brought on another former Princeton hooper and fellow art enthusiast, Steven Cook, a venture capitalist and expert in startup operations.
Check out the ArtistsUntold apparel at https://artistsuntold.com/collections
Also, follow the brand on Instagram @Artists.Untold
About ArtistsUntold:
ArtistsUntold is an online retail platform that provides up-and-coming underrepresented artists with the opportunity to promote and monetize their artwork through apparel sales. Creating art is expensive, so we provide our platform at no cost – leaving the artist with a passive income stream that allows them to buy that new paintbrush set, 64-inch canvas, or camera lens. Learn more at ArtistsUntold.com
For press inquiries, contact Steven Cook at steven@artistsuntold.com