California Clothing Brand Donates Profits to Support Asian, Black and LGBTQ+ Organizations for Earth Day
The donations from the Ryloh’s World collection are dedicated to LGBTQ and environmental rights organizations. (Graphic courtesy of Bryan Arevalo)
Ryloh is more than just a clothing brand. It’s a little weird. It’s definitely trend-setting. And perhaps most impactfully, it centers around small artists with big dreams. And now, they’re ready to give back.
Founder Byan Arevalo sporting a hat from the Ryloh’s Roses collection. (Photo courtesy of Bryan Arevalo)
The brand’s new limited edition tandem collections are called “Anti-Hate: Love is a Cure” and “Ryloh's World”. For every sold piece of the collections, Ryloh will donate $5 to one of four organizations: STOP AAPI Hate in response to the violence against Asian Americans, Black Lives Matter in response to police brutality, the National Resources Defense Council which is an environmental rights organization, and the Human Rights Campaign which supports LGBTQ equality. As a brand inspired by people, they knew they wanted to make positive change by supporting marginalized communities.
“We want to make a good donation to stop AAPI hate because it's something that kind of hits close to home as well. Our ancestors are actually Japanese. We wanted to do something good by launching a collection that we can use… to make a difference, too, even if it's just a small amount so that we feel like we're [giving] something back… and not just trying to make some type of profit,” said co-designer Jay Arevalo.
Bryan Arevalo, 24-year-old founder and creator came up with the brand on a whim. Trapped in his house because of quarantine, he needed a new passion project.
The Anti-Hate: Love is a Cure collection proceeds will go to Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI hate. (Graphic courtesy of Bryan Arevalo)
“Back in July, during quarantine, everyone was at home bored. I was getting anxious. I couldn't go out to eat. I couldn’t go shopping,” said Bryan Arevalo. “So I was spending a lot of my time on my phone. During that time, I would go to different websites [and] different retail stores. And I was like, ‘I don't like any of this’, so I created Ryloh. I was putting my old [photos of travel] trips on sweaters and T-shirts, and I [thought] ‘I would buy this,’ and I'm pretty sure that other people would buy it too.”
Jay Arevalo sporting gear from the Ryloh’s Roses collection. (Photo courtesy of Jay Arevalo)
Ryloh is co-designed by Bryan Arevalo’s sister, Jay Arevalo. The 29-year-old was a student at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM), and spent a lot of time forecasting and studying trends, so she’s always trying to figure out what’s next.
The brand consistently works with small artists, photographers, amateur models and anyone else looking to be a part of the brand and test out a field they’re interested in.
“There's so much art out there, and there are so many people trying to make it. I want to be a part of that. I want to be a part of this community where we all kind of create designs, where we all do photoshoots, where we all do videography,” Bryan Arevalo said. “If you want to test out your skills with me, go ahead. And then, you at least have some practice, you have something under your belt, and then you can flourish [and] have a fruitful venture eventually.”
Bryan Arevalo hopes to see his audience expand and bring more people into the community he’s created. He’s thankful for the support he’s gotten thus far and is excited to see where it goes next.
“I can definitely say… we've had a sense of community, and we've been able to express art, whatever form it may be with one another, but I… want it to grow more, I would want to touch more people,” he said.
Follow Ryloh on Instagram.
To shop at Ryloh click here.