Our People. Our Stories.
It’s pride season, and this year we’re celebrating 50 years since the Gay liberation movement started with the Stonewall Inn riots. We love a party as much as the next person, but this year we wanted to take the opportunity to do something different – and that’s how we came up with our campaign.
It’s called, ‘Pride Starts From Within’ – let us explain.
We wanted to celebrate our amazing schuh staff and their unique stories, pride starts from within after all. For us it’s about more than selling rainbow shoes, that’s why we wanted to hear their stories and amplify them for all to hear.
It all started with an email. We asked staff members to share their experiences for us to turn into a big rainbow mural, and they did not disappoint. Our people shared everything from their coming out experiences and what pride means to them, to their favourite things about the LGBTQIA+ community.
We’re a diverse bunch, and as it turns out, we have some important wisdom to share.
Using the quotes, we made a super-duper window vinyl to share our people’s stories in our stores, all in the colours of the pride flag of course.
We also collaborated with Converse and worked with an ultra-cool creative agency to shoot a video featuring some of the schuh team who submitted quotes and some queer influencer like @aislinnok, @charlsummeruk, @iamkej, @kimmybeatbox, and @rotriplex to name a few. Working with the influencers, we were able to pick some amazing LGBTQIA+ charities to donate to – but we don’t like to brag.
You can watch the video below.
As for our website, we decorated a whole page with quotes from our people. You can view it here. Of course, there are some fierce pride kicks at the bottom from Converse, because who doesn’t want to spend pride season covered in rainbows?
So if you’re out marching this season, see if you can find a pride window in a store near you. We’re super proud of it. And whatever kicks you’re rocking this season, wear them with pride.
