Boy Meets Girl and Strawberry Shortcake Partner on Unisex Back-to-school Collection

BOY MEETS GIRL® x Strawberry Shortcake Unveil a Limited-Edition Eco-Adaptive Varsity Vest as part of their Back-to-School collection

Exclusive 09.13.24 to WWD

This back-to-school season, BOY MEETS GIRL® is celebrating Strawberry Shortcake's 45th anniversary with an exciting and meaningful collaboration. BOY MEETS GIRL® x Strawberry Shortcake is releasing (on 09/13/24) a 13-piece back-to-school collection that features a mash-up of both brands’ logos within BOY MEETS GIRL®'s signature unisex styles, including hoodies, crew sweatshirts, tees, totes, and notebooks. For the first time, BOY MEETS GIRL® and Strawberry Shortcake are introducing a limited-edition eco-adaptive upcycled denim vest with magnetic faux leather sleeves, reflecting a commitment to inclusivity and sustainable fashion. 

“Over the past twenty + years, BOY MEETS GIRL® has been a brand that shares stories and brings people together while giving back to communities,” said Stacy Igel, Founder of BOY MEETS GIRL®. “We have always said ‘confidence and courage never go out of style’. Introducing an adaptive piece of clothing to our collection was important to carry our message even further to those with a disability.”

Owned by WildBrain, a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment, Strawberry Shortcake is one of the world’s most-adored brands. Since her creation in 1973, with the release of a simple Valentine’s Day greeting card, Strawberry Shortcake has grown and evolved with new content, toys, consumer products, and experiences for generations of fans. 

Elizabeth Litten Miller, VP of Franchise strategy at WildBrain, added: “We love collaborating with BOY MEETS GIRL® as they bring their amazing point of view to Strawberry Shortcake, capturing her sweetness, nostalgia, and kindness. Their new adaptive, upcycle denim vest, reflects our joint values of inclusivity and creativity as well as our Strawberry anthem of ‘baking the world a better place’.”

This past year, BOY MEETS GIRL® Founder Stacy Igel was a guest instructor at Columbia College in Chicago, where she once took design classes as a high school student. As part of this class, students were divided into groups and presented new concepts to Stacy, one of which included adaptive clothing. Designed to address mobility issues, sensory impairments, and disabilities, adaptive clothing is more comfortable and accessible for people who may face challenges with traditional clothing.

In true BOY MEETS GIRL® fashion of bringing people together, Stacy was so impressed with what she saw in her class at Columbia College in Chicago that she asked some recently graduated students to join her in a newly created collective, appropriately named the BOY MEETS GIRL® x Strawberry Shortcake Chicago Collective. Together, they worked to develop a limited-edition adaptive upcycled denim vest with magnetic faux leather sleeves. Stacy guided her Chicago-based team on how to source ethical production houses, what to look for in upcycled denim, and how to cast an adaptive model.

“It’s incredibly special to bring this project full circle and involve the next generation of designers from my hometown,” Igel said. “Adding Jessica Ping, a disability model we cast in our campaign, was very important so we could understand all the elements needed to empower someone with a disability. We had fittings and talked through the product together. Jessica epitomizes a confident young woman and is a perfect fit for our BMG x SSC collaboration.”

50% of the net proceeds will be donated to The National School Climate Center's Community Champions program.