Champion teams up with Tremaine Emory

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Jun 30, 2021

Champion unveiled on Tuesday a collaborative collection with Tremaine Emory, the founder of sportswear brand, Denim Tears. 

Dubbed 'Champion Tears', the collection, set to launch in September, was inspired by Champion’s durable Reverse Weave fabrics and design archive, alongside Emory’s take on the unique pieces influenced by the critically acclaimed Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. 

The collection includes bright plaids and loose-gauge knits, jackets and hats on the red, black and green of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) founded in the 1920s. All of these items also pay tribute to Ailey, with double AA logos alongside “American Dance Theater” text and the U.S. flag. The collection celebrates Champion’s collegiate legacy, while spotlighting one of the greatest black-founded American cultural arts companies of all time.

Ailey founded the eponymous all-Black dance troupe in 1958 and went on to perform across New York. The Theater is now a physical NY institution. 

With movement and Ailey’s dance heritage central to Emory’s design narrative, the collection was brought to life alongside a film by Taylor Paige, actor, dancer and director, set at New York City’s historic Queen’s Museum, featuring Yannick Lebrun and Samantha Figgins from Alvin Ailey.