Fashion company Kith recently released a new collection honoring musical icon Aaliyah featuring never-before-seen photos of the late singer.
Released on International Women’s Day, the collection features various prints of newly released headshots of Aaliyah on several different hoodies and shirts such as the “Aaliyah ‘Rock the Boat’ Jane” hoodie. In development since 2020, the project was created alongside both Robert Whitman, the photographer behind the pictures, and Aaliyah’s brother, Rashad Haughton, who acts as the manager of her estate.
“Aaliyah was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Detroit, and went on to touch the whole world with her light and creativity,” Haughton said in a statement. “That’s why I felt that Kith would be the perfect partner to release unseen photos of my sister on their incredible fashion designs.”
All the profits from the sales will be donated. In addition to the Detroit School of Arts, the high school where Aaliyah graduated from in 1997 holding a 4.0 GPA, money will be given to “I Support the Girls,” a nonprofit organization. Working alongside more than 750 partners,“I Support the Girls” helps provide essential items like bras, tampons and pads to women dealing with homelessness, poverty or any other kind of economic distress.
Along with the collection, the brand also released a short film of the current students of the Detroit School of Arts. By filming the students at the school in the recital hall named after Aaliyah, Kith is using their reach to help promote the talents of the young Black women that make up the art programs at D.S.A.
Featured on the fashion brand’s website, the two-minute video opens up with footage of the school’s principal, Dr. Mayowa Lisa Reynolds, talking about the importance of the arts and how Aaliyah helped open up doors. Throughout the video, there’s also footage of the students dancing, singing and discussing how the late singer influenced them.
“Nobody ever told me ‘Hey, there’s a world out there that’s waiting for you,’” said student Lauryn Simmons at one point in the short film. “I was that little girl with just the biggest dreams and so was Aaliyah.”
Aaliyah found her calling in music at a very young age; by the time she was 11, she had already landed an opportunity to sing alongside Gladys Knight for five nights in Las Vegas. Three years later, Aaliyah released her first album, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, and scored her first Top 5 song on the Billboard Hot 100 with her first single, “Back and Forth.”
In 1996, she worked alongside Timbaland and Missy Elliott to create and release her double-platinum song “If Your Girl Only Knew” from her sophomore album, One in a Million.
Aaliyah’s continued success saw her expand into acting, move towards music for soundtracks and join the fashion world where she is now considered a fashion icon. In 2001, her career was unexpectedly cut short when she was involved in a fatal plane crash.
Hailed as the “Princess of R&B,” Aaliyah’s impact on the music industry, fashion and philanthropy has made her a pop culture icon.
“Together with the Aaliyah Estate, her brother Rashad, and Robert Whitman, we’d like to thank the principal, faculty and students of DSA, as well as I Support the Girls, for helping us celebrate this moment,” said a spokesperson on the Kith website. “We hope, and believe, that this initiative is one that Aaliyah would be proud of.”
