Dance is an artform that’s carried messages and stories for millennia while also serving as a form of entertainment that captivates even those with two left feet. From ritualistic dancing to competitive dancing to TikTok dancing, dance is a staple of the global community.
And dance clothing tells a story in and of itself.
At BELLA+CANVAS, we’ve had the honor of creating staple pieces that elevate comfort and expand movement for dancers, most notably and most recently being Charlize Glass. Her love for ultra-cozy essentials that seamlessly (and with a little swag) transition from the choreography studio to thereafter lunch with co-stars made a BELLA+CANVAS and Charlize Glass collab a no-brainer.
At 20 years old, Charlize has become a global dance sensation with a miles-long resume of impressive appearances: America’s Got Talent, the MTV Video Music Awards alongside Nicki Minaj, MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, and the Superbowl Halftime show alongside Katy Petty and Missy Elliott to name only a very few. Not to mention the video of her dancing at the age of 12 that the Queen B (Beyonce) herself shared with the caption, “WOW!”
Since 3-years-old, Charlize has been capitalizing on her talent for dance with a self-dedication to practicing, choreographing, and performing at the highest level. A precision and power defines her style — one that turns heads and keeps them there until the song is through. The quickness of her movements and the ability to create rhythmic motion in places as obscure as her pinky toe is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
Charlize is trained in jazz, ballet, contemporary, funk, and hip-hop, the latter being her go-to style on TikTok, where her worldwide fans follow along daily. In a crowd of dancers, Charlize’s ferocity for dance shines through loud and clear attracting loyal fans like a moth to a bright light.
This capsule infuses a little bit of edge and punk rock into street-style silhouettes standing as a testament to the wide variety of dance forms Charlize has perfected over the years as well as her wide audience. These hand-picked styles make perfect lounge favorites that are ready to be worn wherever life’s dance leads.
The Charlize Glass x BELLA+CANVAS collection dropped today, November 1st, retailing in price from ($28) to ($54) and is sold exclusively online through BELLA+CANVAS. To see more collaborations, be sure to check out our full Collabs page where we’ve partnered with everyone from chefs to environmental organizations to streetwear imprints and more.
Shop the full collaboration now and scroll down for a closer look at the exclusive pieces of this capsule.
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From Milwaukee to LA, BELLA+CANVAS Explores the Journey Behind Streetwear Imprint Unfinished Legacy
]]>We often dream up ambitions to create something that will hopefully serve as our legacy; not as often are those dreams actually accomplished. For Sudanese-born, Milwaukee-raised artist, Brema Brema, his dreams have come true but they’re far from finished. Hence, Unfinished Legacy, the streetwear imprint founded by Brema back when he was in high school. He now sits at his spacious studio in Downtown Los Angeles with a full team of employees, a constant influx of orders and even more dreams of expansion.
After moving to the States with his family back in 2010, Brema immersed himself into the culture of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, finding his passion in photography, videography, art, skateboarding and fashion. Brema found his inspiration for Unfinished Legacy in high school when his classmates were asked to describe themselves in one word. One word came to mind: unfinished… The concept of forever growing your legacy resonated with Brema, who not only adopted that ethos for himself but sought to teach others to find that sense of drive as well. With his mission set, Brema outfitted his basement with a screen-printing machine, pulled together a team of friends and started what we now know as the “cult-hero” brand, Unfinished Legacy.
From there, Unfinished Legacy dominated the local Milwaukee streetwear and creative scene with a strong social media presence through in-depth and insightful videos. His content not only highlights the brand’s journey but offers tricks of the trade to start a successful clothing brand—insightful advice not commonly shared by brand founders. Both brand and content helped Brema and his team branch out beyond Milwaukee, turning heads across the nation. His story has been picked up by the likes of Vogue, and iconic brands like Levi’s have tapped the creative for collaborative efforts.
“One thing that came to mind right away about BELLA+CANVAS was its wide range of colors, specifically the neutral and earth tone colors, which reminded me of home.“
And here’s where we come in. Having discovered Brema and his brand through his YouTube channel, we at BELLA+CANVAS immediately connected with the artist and what drives him. From wanting to work together on content that already aligns with what we do—both Brema and BELLA+CANVAS offer a deep archive of educational content on the apparel industry—the idea of creating a capsule collection that celebrates Brema’s story organically came about.
The collection includes designs that feature Unfinished Legacy’s signature butterfly motif, with BELLA+CANVAS staples in neutrals and earth tones like Vintage White and Driftwood. “One thing that came to mind right away about BELLA+CANVAS was its wide range of colors, specifically the neutral and earth tone colors, which reminded me of home. When it came to designing for this [collaboration], it made it easy to go with our iconic butterfly and flora elements,” explains Brema.
The collection is comprised of the BELLA+CANVAS SoCal Tee in Vintage White, The Crew Sweatshirt and The Sweatshort in Driftwood, for a complete summer outfit. The BELLA+CANVAS x Unfinished Legacy capsule will be available in June and sold exclusively through BELLA+CANVAS with retail prices set at $48 for the tee, and $58 for the sweatshirt and sweatshort. For more on our BELLA+CANVAS collaborative efforts, check out our Collabs page here.
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BELLA+CANVAS Celebrates Juneteenth With WRLDINVSN Collaboration T-Shirt
]]>While America took a major stand in support of Black Lives Matter in 2019 that vastly broadened the awareness of Juneteenth, it’s safe to say that June 19 is a day that should be observed and celebrated each and every year across the nation. The importance of that date goes back to 1865, which marks the official freedom of the enslaved—two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was made “effective.” To help support this commemoration, BELLA+CANVAS Retail has teamed up with New Orleans-based fashion imprint WRLDINVSN to create a T-Shirt dedicated to their heritage and Juneteenth as a whole.
By donated all asphalt-colored garments to the label, the WRLDINVSN team put together an exclusive twist on their signature logo by giving it an African patterning treatment that sits emblazoned across the chest. The back of the T-Shirt boasts a powerful message by famed civil rights leader, philosopher, author and theologian Howard Washington Thurman that aptly reads, “Do Not Be Silent; There Is No Limit To The Power That May Be Released Through You.”
Sold exclusively through WRLDINVSN’s online store, the T-Shirts proceeds are donated to the label’s Louisiana Tech Scholarship Fund, with sales already amounting to the goal—within minutes, might we add—that has confirmed one lucky applicant to be sent through college! The WRLDINVSN x BELLA+CANVAS “Juneteenth” collab T-Shirt is still available through www.wrldinvsn.com but are flying off the shelves fast! And if you would like to make a direct donation to WRLDINVSN’s Louisiana Tech Scholarship Fund, click here.
To learn more about WRLDINVSN and its co-founders Nick Clark and Marlon Watts, check out our video below that highlights their trip from New Orleans to Los Angeles. During their time here, we invited them to hang out with us at the BELLA+CANVAS headquarters, took them on an official tour around our facilities and showed them around town. Throughout the video, Nick and Marlon speak on what it means to have created a hugely successful impact through their brand’s mission—they’re nothing short of an inspiration to us! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more compelling content.
]]>It’s safe to say that everyone loves food. In fact, we at BELLA+CANVAS love food so much that we’ve partnered with big names within the restaurant industry, having worked with the likes of LOVE HOUR and Wanderlust Creamery on collaborative collections earlier this year. We’re continuing to tap into a hunger for more collabs with our latest partnership. We’ve tapped professional cook and social media influencer Brandon Skier, who goes by the moniker Sad Papi. With 10 years of experience in the kitchen at fine dining and Michelin-starred restaurants—most recently at Auburn in L.A., Skier has had plenty of time to hone his skills in haute cuisine.
Like many, Skier’s career took a hit during lockdown, as restaurants around his city of Los Angeles closed their doors. But as the idiom goes, when one door closes, another one opens. This was the case for Skier, who started sharing his culinary skills on TikTok. While that in itself is nothing new to the platform, it was Sad Papi’s unique approach to sharing recipes that helped him stand out. He created his own flavor of content that serves simple, honest and straightforward recipes at a refreshing pace — much needed amidst TikTok’s typical hyperspeed content.
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Contemporary Artists Shelby and Sandy Collaborate With Us on a Halloween-Themed Collection
]]>To celebrate the spookiest of holidays, we tapped LA-based contemporary artists Shelby and Sandy for a Halloween-themed collaboration collection. Consisting of five pieces, the limited-edition ensemble sees exclusive, hand-drawn designs by Shelby and Sandy emblazoned across five staple styles from our Retail line. This includes the DTM Street Hoodie, The Scrunch Pant, The Crew Sweatshirt, The Sweatshort and The SoCal Tee.
With this collaboration being the main kick-starter to collaborations for BELLA+CANVAS as a whole, we couldn’t have timed it any better with Halloween being the artists’ favorite holiday. Taking on their bold and whimsical art style, the collection features an iteration of the artists’ signature skull, as well as colorful bones and an embroidered Jack-O’ lantern, and serves as the perfect throw-on for the myriad of Halloween parties you’ve signed up for while still being casual enough to wear post-October—we’re even wearing our own sets around the office!
Shelby and Sandy themselves are a part of the BELLA+CANVAS family, having worked with us on a special project a few years back, so to bring them back around for a complete collection felt nothing shy of organic. Born-and-raised in LA, the two brothers have carved their own lane within the contemporary art landscape through their ability to craft fun iterations of pop culture using pristine lines and a range of signature colors. Their work has garnered fans that includes the likes of YouTube sensation David Dobrik, Chicago’s hip hop don Chief Keef, to everyone’s favorite actor/music artist Selena Gomez to name a few.
The limited-edition Shelby and Sandy x BELLA+CANVAS Collaboration Collection is now available online and at our retail store—don’t miss out on getting a set for yourself!
BELLA+CANVAS x TreePeople: Keeping Cities Cool with Trees
]]>Earth Day is right around the corner, and it’s safe to say that this is one annual event that’s increasingly becoming more prevalent as time goes on. For as long as we’ve been around, BELLA+CANVAS has carried an eco-conscious ethos in the way we produce our products. While we have these practices in place internally, we also want to support and advocate for environmental protection externally. To commemorate Earth Day 2022, we’ve teamed up with Los Angeles-based educational and training environmental advocacy organization, TreePeople to create a T-shirt that supports their mission: “to inspire, engage and support people to take personal responsibility for the urban environment, making it safe, healthy, fun and sustainable and to share our process as a model for the world.”
The BELLA+CANVAS x TreePeople Recycled Organic Tee takes on a simplistic and minimal design, with the purpose and message behind what TreePeople do stamped across the left chest. The design itself reads, “Temperatures are rising in cities, but trees help to cool things down. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this T-Shirt go towards cooling cities around the world and help to address the impact of global warming. Stay cool, LA.” So in essence, if you buy this tee, you’re supporting TreePeople and the city of LA!
To go the extra mile for this project, we tapped LA-based printers Apliiq which have used water-based pigment ink that’s non-toxic and non-hazardous, with no heavy metals included and is vegan, biodegradable and organic. This Earth Day project also marks the debut of our brand new Recycled Organic Tee, which we used as the platform for this collaboration. The BELLA+CANVAS x TreePeople Recycled Organic Tee will be available starting April 6, and its non-decorated version—the 3001RCY Recycled Organic Tee—will be available on our Wholesale site from April 4 onwards. The collab tee will be sold exclusively on the BELLA+CANVAS Retail site for $30, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to TreePeople in addition to a monetary sum that we’ll be donating to them.
Be sure to shop the BELLA+CANVAS x TreePeople Recycled Organic Tee, and visit TreePeople’s website to learn more about how they’re helping save our environment, our city and our trees! And if you haven’t read our post highlighting tips to become a more ecologically sustainable print shop, read all about it here!
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As part of our collaboration narrative, aptly dubbed “BELLA+CANVAS x ____,” we’ve tapped Koreatown, LA’s cult-favorite smash burger spot LOVE HOUR for a limited-edition, two-piece collection. Bringing in popular styles in retail: the SoCal tee and The Scrunch Pant, we’ve paired the two to create a capsule collection that reflects both BELLA+CANVAS and LOVE HOUR.
LOVE HOUR is the brainchild of Michael Pak and Duy Nguyen, both of whom also founded the influencer-laced Koreatown Run Club. Now situated in the heart of Koreatown, the restaurant started off as a pop-up concept with a permanent spot at Downtown LA’s smorgasburg, as well as servicing fashion events and other contemporary spaces. Bringing in their deep network of LA’s finest creatives and influencers, LOVE HOUR is now the hot spot for late-night and weekend hangs, bringing in everyone from photographers to music producers to foodies the world over.
Utilizing their outdoor space as the restaurant, LOVE HOUR has a laid-back environment—something you’ll typically find at a street market or food fair. You place your order at the booth, grab it from their kitchen window, and sit at one of their myriad branded milk crates that are often used as both seats and tables.
It was this aesthetic that we wanted to bring into the design of this collab by literally emblazoning their signature yellow milk crate across the chest of our heavyweight SoCal tee. The Scrunch pant receives the ever-classic collegiate typeface treatment for “LOVE HOUR” with the “BELLA+CANVAS” logo running alongside it. Black was used for both styles, which allowed the tee graphic and sweatpants logos to pop in vibrant color. The collection will be made available on April 13 at both BELLA+CANVAS’ webstore and retail stores, as well as at LOVE HOUR’s webstore. Pricing for the tee will come to $38, with the sweatpants retailing for $52.
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BELLA+CANVAS x Wanderlust Creamery: the Artisanal Ice Cream Brand Known for its International Flavors
]]>Continuing our “BELLA+CANVAS x ____” collaboration narrative, we’ve partnered with Wanderlust Creamery, arguably the best artisanal ice cream brand for international flavors. Born-and-raised in Los Angeles and founded by partners Adrienne Borlongan and Jon-Patrick Lopez, the creamery is known most for its unique flavors inspired by the travels of the aforementioned founders. Walk into any of the brand’s seven locations and you’ll most likely find a flavor you’ve grown up with from whichever country or culture you’re from.
Wanderlust’s diverse range of flavors includes everything from Sticky Rice + Mango to Abuelita Malted Crunch to their hallmark Pandan Tres Leches—the flavor that speaks on the team’s Southern California upbringing and helped put them on the map for creating deep-culture flavors. We focused on Pandan Tres Leches for the design of the collection. The flavor fuses the Southeast Asian essence of “Pandan” with the ever-classic Mexican dessert “Tres Leches.” It’s a combination that works so well that bakeries and other ice cream stores have tried mimicking the soon-to-be Wanderlust trademarked flavor.
Featuring three styles from BELLA+CANVAS’ retail line, the limited-edition capsule collection includes our patented Airlume Cotton Crew Tee; our Tie Dye DTM Street Hoodie; and our Tie Dye Scrunch Pant. The collection as a whole brings on a cross-section display of a pint of Wanderlust Creamery‘s Pandan Tres Leches, with its key ingredients highlighted and the flavor’s title emblazoned above.
Officially announced on April 25, the three-piece collaborative collection will see a price tag of around $38-$58, and will be available for purchase on the BELLA+CANVAS webstore, at our two retail stores and on Wanderlust Creamery’s own webstore. If you haven’t checked out our other collaboration with Koreatown-based smash burger restaurant LOVE HOUR, read all about it here!
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