Denim Tears' UGG SS22 Collab Is an Exploration of Tremaine Emory’s Black Seminole Heritage
An ode to his great-grandmother Onia.
For his latest collaboration, Tremaine Emory, under his artistic moniker Denim Tears, has teamed up with UGG to explore his Black Seminole heritage. Serving as a modern-day Renaissance man, Emory has made a name for himself as a multi-hyphenate creative that pushes art and design to new heights of visual storytelling to highlight often-overlooked cultural diaspora.
The collaboration with UGG also serves as an ode to Emory’s great-grandmother Onia, incorporating inspiration found in associated iconography and craft techniques from the southeastern United States of the Black Seminole, black Indians associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma.
“My grandmother is 95 years old. Once my grandmother goes, that’s it. There’s no one else for me to talk to in my family about my great-grandmother. She’s the last living person on Earth who knew my great-grandmother. How much more time does she have? Or do any of us have? So, this is my attempt to try to cement some history so that, maybe one day, five kids or the rest of my family know the history,” said Tremaine Emory.
The celebration of Indigenous and Black American heritage stitches together a shared history through wearable art. An expression of his past, present and future, the collaboration is about family, history, and memorializing stories suppressed by pervasive racism and the oppressive system of slavery. In his research, Emory also uncovered his family’s connection within New Orleans and the Black Masking Culture community (Mardi Gras Indians). Though now evolved, the community was a way for those in New Orleans past to celebrate away from white French colonial tradition and respect the Indigenous people in the region who helped those fleeing slavery.
“Just putting things down that can’t be erased, so maybe ten more people know now that Indigenous and African American communities are actually way closer than we thought,” said Emory.
The Denim Tears x UGG Spring/Summer 2022 collaboration is comprised of a duo of offerings that reimagine the Classic and Tasman styles. The historical outlook sees the Tasman ONIA crafted from the signature suede and sheepskin, adorned all over with floral decoration and whipstitch detailing around the collar. Continuing the suede and sheepskin construction with whipstitch detail, the Classic ONIA is marked to represent the fusion of Emory’s cultures with embroidery and beading.
The Denim Tears x UGG SS22 collaboration is available now on the Denim Tears’s website. Aside from an accompanying apparel range, Tremaine Emory has also created a 60-minute documentary exploring his roots in New Orleans, featuring prominent figures Big Chief Demond Melancon and Chief Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah.
It is also important to note that the Denim Tears x UGG collaboration will also see the footwear brand donate $50,000 USD to the Backstreet Cultural Museum and the Guardians Institute.
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