sustainable fashion halloween campaign

“We decided on a capsule collection involving four Black queer artists from around the globe with their own unique and creative interpretations of Blackness, queerness, travel and joy… “ 

- Paula Akpan - BQTG founder, She/Her

Founded in 2020 by writer, journalist and historian, Paula Akpan, The Black Queer Travel Guide is a digital resource to support and help the black queer community travel safely around the world. 

In 2020, Paula spent four months speaking to over 20 Black queer activists and community organisers from around the world, from Jamaica to Papua New Guinea to Nigeria, researching the daily precautions Black queer people take in their countries, the grassroots work they’re doing in their communities and how they travel and navigate life.   
 

Paula’s research shaped the vision of what her team of six hopes to accomplish through The Black Queer Travel Guide and the building of resources. The Black Queer Travel Guide is currently available in its first stages as a web app; the team’s mission is to create a downloadable phone app, showing Black queer travellers nearby locations and businesses that are Black queer-friendly or Black queer owned (such as bars, restaurants, hotels, cultural hubs and more) as well as connecting them with local Black queer communities.

“...THE COLLECTION EXISTS TO CELEBRATE BLACK ART”

- CHASE - BQTG STEERING PANEL, THEY/THEM

We share the belief that everyone has a right to travel the world freely and safely. With this in mind, when BQTG approached us, we leapt at the opportunity – helping to develop the first stage of the first ever BQTG app. This creative fundraising will help populate and moderate the web app, hire an app development team and develop an app with a global team.


To help further support local black queer organisations around the globe, Lucy & Yak are supporting the Black Queer Travel Guide team through production of a small collection with art for each of the designs created by members of global Black Queer communities, hailing from Brazil, St Vincent, South Africa and the UK.


 Set to launch in the first week of November, the collection features 3 Benny Tees and a pair of dungarees. Each item encompasses a feeling of travel and celebrates Black queer joy and travel. Each artist involved in the design has interpreted the brief in the way they experience life, and because of this, the product designs are unlike anything you've seen from Lucy & Yak before. 

Our four artists:  Ashton Attzs, Sharleen Branch, Wacom Boy and Asaph Luccas, were given full creative reign over their designs. The collection takes inspiration from their own lived experiences, featuring unique illustrations that represent self-expression, identity and liberation for the Black Queer community.

100% of the profits from The Black Queer Travel Guide and Lucy & Yak collection will go towards supporting the development of the native app - plus 3 x additional donations will go to Black Queer Charities around the globe that have been chosen carefully and thoughtfully with input from BQTG’s steering group and the artists involved in the campaign.  


BQTG and Lucy & Yak will use their platforms to amplify the artist’s voices, and champion the Black queer community globally.

Let’s see how far around the globe the message can travel!       



Meet the 4 artistS

sustainable fashion halloween campaign

🌟@ATTZS_🌟 


Ashton Attzs is a queer, black, London based-artist. Their paintings and illustrations are a vehicle to empower. From soothing blues, to eye catching pinks, their gender-diverse animated characters are distinctive in style. Their work is joyful, loud and unapologetic both in design and message.


Their transgender swimmers painting - “Don’t Stay In Ya Lane”, won the Evening Standard Art Prize.


Ashton's Black Queer Travel guide design:
"The design is a celebration of LGBTQ+ people of colour and our dreams to travel and see the wonders of the world. One thing I wanted to do was capture the magic of adventure, exploration and wanderlust so I illustrated a rainbow bursting out from the seams of the suitcase.  This is of course a nod to the pride flag and is mirrored within some of the badges.  Also on the suitcases are travel pins of various countries' flags, including Japan, Brazil,  Trinidad, Canada and France. 


As an artist, I always love working with vibrant, fun and bold colours that spark joy and warmth so I tried extra hard to make sure this tee-shirt design was beaming with colour.  All of the colours within the design are inspired by the inclusive pride flag. 


Something I’ve always loved doing in my artwork is creating characters that are trans, non-binary/gender-diverse and putting them at the forefront! So both of the awesome characters in this design are gender-diverse/trans people of colour;  green hair has over the years, become an established symbol in my work for transness! I also wanted them to be dressed in dungarees so took inspiration from Lucy and Yak’s classic fits.  


The composition itself is cyclical and shows how our dreams of adventure can become a reality when we pack the suitcase and make those first steps; to then do it all over again.  The tabletop globe spins and lands on a destination, so inside of circle is a fun amalgamation of different landscapes and environments;  from palm trees and mountains to skyscrapers in cities. The two characters intentionally look somewhat similar and it's up to you to interpret whether it’s the same person who packs their bag and then travels the world or perhaps two travel buddies who meet along the way. I hope that different people interpret the tee in ways that feels significant to them and to ultimately feel the sheer excitement of travel and exploration.”


Watch our instagram Live with Paula Akpan and the artists to find out the inspiration behind their BQTG design.


Watch it here: @lucyandyak


sustainable fashion halloween

💫@ASAPHLUCCAS 💫


Asaph Luccas is a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist addressing issues of gender, sexuality and representation of black and LGBT identities through their works.


@ASAPHLUCCAS Black Queer Travel guide design:

 "My artwork is heavily inspired by how colourful and full of life Brazil is (even during hard times nowadays). My mother's grandparents are from the state of Bahia and I finally had the opportunity to visit not a long time ago. My work is all about portraying Black beauty, and Bahia has the highest percentage of Black population in all of Brazil — I felt like home. This is a homage to Salvador da Bahia and all the beautiful people, architecture and art there. I hope everyone can visit one day!" 

Watch our instagram Live with Paula Akpan and the artists to find out the inspiration behind their BQTG design.


Watch it here: @lucyandyak


sustainable fashion halloween

🌟@SHARLBRANCH 🌟


Sharl Branch is a Vincentian artist with a BFA in Visual Arts and Multimedia from Rogers State University.

She works mainly in illustration, using both traditional and digital media. She is the creator of the ongoing webcomic 'Boo Or Whatever'.


@Sharlbranch Black Queer Travel guide design:

"For this design, I wanted to incorporate both travel and black LGBTQ+ people. Focusing on the human aspect of the design, I made the heart of the piece a black queer person. They are surrounded by scenes and landscapes varying from cityscapes to a more tropical locale that one may encounter and experience whilst traveling. I love using bold colour in my work, and being very intentional about the queer aspect of this piece, all of the colours in this design can be found in the intersectional pride flag."


Watch our instagram Live with Paula Akpan and the artists to find out the inspiration behind their BQTG design.


Watch it here: @lucyandyak


sustainable fashion halloween campaign

💫@WACOM_BOY💫


Khanya (WacomBoy) is a South African-based illustrator, graphic designer, tattooist.


Their work amplifies trans activism, queer liberation, and pushes depictions of trans bodies into the mainstream.


@Wacom_boy Black Queer Travel guide design:

Watch our instagram Live with Paula Akpan to find out the inspiration behind @Wacom_Boy's BQTG design.


Watch it here: @lucyandyak

Meet Paula Akpan

Founder of The Black Queer Travel Guide

Paula Akpan is a journalist, historian and public speaker. A sociology graduate from the University of Nottingham, her work mainly focuses on Blackness, queerness, and social politics, and she regularly writes for a variety of publications including Vogue, Teen Vogue, The Independent, Stylist, VICE, i-D, Bustle, Time Out London and more. 

   

She’s also a published essayist, having written an essay on Black women and community in Slay In Your Lane’s anthology Loud Black Girls (published by 4th Estate Books at HarperCollins, 1 Oct 2020) and another on Black British Lesbians and their relationship with the UK Black Women’s movement for The Queer Bible anthology (published by HQ at HarperCollins, 10 Jun 2021).  

  

Paula is currently a fully-funded Masters student at Goldsmiths, studying Black British History with an interest in mapping out the lives and activism of Black British lesbians and queer women during the 70s and 80s. 

   

Alongside her writing and academic endeavours, she is also the director of a charitable incorporated company called The Black Queer Travel Guide, a digital resource Prioritising Black Queer travellers and their safety as they navigate the world, through offering experiences, advice and information on destinations around the globe.       


“The BQTG team have worked to create an artist-driven capsule collection that represents and supports people around the world, all for the global Black Queer Community”

      - Team L&Y

We welcome feedback, if you have any feedback please email positivechange@lucyandyak.com