Lys Beauty and Kultured Misfits Introduce Fashion Collab
● The Atlanta-based brands are joining forces for National Black Business Month.
Skin care-oriented makeup brand Lys Beauty and streetwear line Kultured Misfits have teamed up for a clothing capsule collection to commemorate National Black Business Month in September.
Called Love Letters, the three-piece line embodies the brands' shared ethos of self-love and includes a black puffer vest jacket with detachable sleeves, a blush pink quarter-zip pullover, and embroidered joggers. Prices range from $85 to $125.
“Both of our brands have mantras that speak to individuality and embracing who you are at all times, and we felt like Love Letters is an extension of that,” said Lindsay Barnette, who founded Kultured Misfits in 2015 as a unisex clothing line and enters womenswear for the first time with this collection.
“We wanted that versatility. With the puffer, for example, you can remove the hood, you can remove the sleeves; as women, we are multifaceted, dynamic beings, and so that multitasking effect is very near and dear to the LYS brand philosophy,” said Tisha Thompson, who was vice president of marketing and innovation at Pur Cosmetics before founding Lys in 2021.
The brand, which sells at Sephora, is best known for functional makeup products like its Triple Fix Serum Foundation, which retails for $24 and features hyaluronic acid, turmeric and ashwagandha.
“This collaboration allows us both to cross over into new audiences,” said Thompson, whose sons CJ and Christian fronted Kultured Misfits' debut kids collection last year. Some of Lys' earliest campaigns, meanwhile, featured models sporting Kultured Misfits T-shirts that read “never fit in” and other uplifting affirmations, which are one of the apparel brand's signatures.
“It's collaboration over competition,” Barnette said. “Entrepreneurship doesn't have to be lonely — we're all going through similar experiences and trying to make an impact within our communities.”
To that end, Barnette and Thompson partnered for a “Founders on Founders” conversation to promote the launch, in which the pair discuss their respective entrepreneurial journeys and overcoming barriers to entry — and impact — in the beauty and fashion industries.
“To me, the ultimate success would be to build a community of people who realize the power they possess, and setting this new stage of ownership and loving who you are,” Thompson said.
The Love Letters collection launches Thursday on the Kultured Misfits and Lys Beauty websites.