Under Armour photographer Devin Allen drops special BHM collection

Devin Allen, Baltimore Artist, Community Leader, and Under Armour Photographer, joins Yahoo Finance's Kristin Myers and Reggie Wade to discuss his new project with the company.

Video Transcript

KRISTIN MYERS: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. Under Armour is celebrating Black History Month with a new collection for Baltimore in partnership with Baltimore native Devin Allen. So let's bring in Baltimore artist, community leader, and Under Armor photographer Devin Allen. We also have our resident sneaker head, Yahoo Finance's Reggie Wade here with us now.

So Devin, can you tell us what this collection means to you as a Baltimore native, really to have, in a way, an ode to the city that has seen so many progress and great things, but also a lot of suffering?

DEVIN ALLEN: Yes. Being raised in Baltimore, to have more the line, highlighting the youth here in Baltimore to show the resilience in the youth and the grit of the city, but also just show that there's beauty in the struggle. And I really wanted to highlight the youth in this collection. So that's what we set out to do.

KRISTIN MYERS: And I want to ask you, and we were chatting about it in the break, what was it like to go from photographer to shoe designer?

DEVIN ALLEN: It was fun. It was really interesting working with so many different types of creatives, because I love fashion. I wear clothes. I'm so used to shooting people in clothes. But it was really good to work and see different creative work in different spaces to get everything across the finish line and working with so many different components, from picking materials to picking colors and shooting this stuff. It was just really fun.

REGGIE WADE: Devin, Reggie Wade here. What does it mean to be involved with a brand like Baltimore, who like yourself, has its roots based in Baltimore?

DEVIN ALLEN: It's really big. You know, the relationship has been there since the passing of Freddie Gray, since the Baltimore uprising. That's how Under Armour found out about my work in Baltimore. And I've been working with them since 2015, so to work with a Baltimore brand this big in my community that allows me to give back to my community is really, really big.

It's a Baltimore brand. And people in Baltimore love Under Armour. You know, you can see it on every corner, every street. Kids love it. The community always has on Under Armour. So it was really big, and it means a lot to my community.

REGGIE WADE: You mentioned the kids. What effect do you want your work, not only with photography, but what you're doing in activism and with Under Armour, what effect do you want that to have on the youth of Baltimore?

DEVIN ALLEN: I think the most important thing, I want the kids to see that you could pick a different route. Growing up in Baltimore, it's really easy to get caught up in the streets and things like that. I was in the streets myself. And I always felt like I didn't have a voice. But Freddie Gray and Baltimore Uprising gave me a voice. And I want to use that voice to uplift the next generation and open up doors go places that we haven't gone.

And I really want kids to know that you can shoot for the stars. And I just want to let them know that dreams do come true. And your situation doesn't dictate your future. You always have control over that.

REGGIE WADE: We know you're a great photographer. But is this going to open the door to more collaborations? Are you going to turn into a designer?

DEVIN ALLEN: Hopefully, you know, I want to move into other spaces. I want to be one of the greatest artists of my generation. And I definitely want to pull a Kanye and move into the fashion world and into that space one day. So I think this is a good start for my future goals.

KRISTIN MYERS: So how well is the collection performing right now, Devin?

DEVIN ALLEN: I know it's doing good, because I rarely have anything to wear of my own collection, because everybody wants it. And I've literally taken the shoes off my feet and given them to people because they love it so much.

Just the response to the community, the kids, it just feels really good to have, being able to put Baltimore on my back, but I've seen people in Quebec and other places in the world, in Asia. So it's just really good to put my city and my community in a good space and a good light for once.

KRISTIN MYERS: So Devin, you mentioned Freddie Gray's death. And I think about that a lot lately, because Freddie Gray's death kicked off a lot of protests similar to the ones that we saw after George Floyd was murdered this past year.

I'm wondering what kind of expectations you have, not just of companies like Under Armour, but other companies, not even athletic companies, businesses, really, to drive these conversations about diversity in the cities where they operate.

DEVIN ALLEN: Yes. I think partnering with Under Armour, like I said, they found me because of my "Time" cover. And when I came in, I was very verbal about I want to stay in Baltimore, I want to work with the youth, and I want to work here. But I'm still going to be on the ground. And they supported that. And they allowed me to go out shoot protests.

And I sit in conversations with so many different people at a company that's trying to push diversity inside the company. I think more companies need to that need to do that and be more variable and not just do it once a year for Black History Month or just collaboration. Black History Month is every single day for us because we're Black.

But don't do it in a sense of for just Black Lives Matter. You have to continue that conversation, period, not just when someone dies at the hands of police. We are Black every single day. And I think companies need to support that, not just once a year.

REGGIE WADE: Devin, could you tell us a little bit about what's next on your radar? What's the next big project that you're going to tackle?

DEVIN ALLEN: Right now, I'm currently working on a new book. So I'm working on a new book. The title is called "No Justice, No Peace" right now. Just looking back at a lot of my photography over the years, I've been documenting protests in my community since the passing of Mike Brown, so just a collection of photographs and essays from different activists that I look up to, so working on that and just still continuing to build.

I'm working with Under Armour. The proceeds from Under Armour are going to Wide Angle Youth Media, which is a nonprofit in Baltimore City that teaches inner city kids photography and media. So we're going to be launching a workshop next month where we are buying cameras for the kids. And I'm actually going and mentor these kids via Zoom to get them into photography and things like that with the help of Under Armour.