Designer Tremaine Emory never intended for Denim Tears to speak only to one corner of the culture. When asked about the brand’s relationship to Black imagery and Black audiences, he widens the frame. “Denim Tears speaks to the world,” he says. “It speaks to America and the world. Because Black culture influences all cultures, and it’s also influenced by all cultures. And when you talk about African Americans, we are American. America is us. It’s not separated.”
That idea sits at the center of Denim Tears: clothing as image, image as history, history as something you carry, whether or not it makes people comfortable. It’s why Lauryn Hill appearing with her children in the brand’s Spring/Summer 2026 campaign felt natural, like a family portrait.
“Everything comes from the gut,” Emory says of enlisting Hill for the campaign. “I have a friendship with her daughter. And so it was very natural. It wasn’t really calculated.” The way Emory tells it, the idea arrived almost casually: “Oh, you know what? Is your mom down?”
Hill agreed to participate, but with a condition that became the emotional core of the shoot: She wanted all of her kids in the photos. Ultimately, her son Zion couldn’t make it, but five of Hill’s six children were present. “It’s deep, the reverence of the shoot and how amazing the family looked and what they represent,” Emory says. “Ms. Hill was just a beautiful human to be around. There was a lot of love on that set.”
