Product placement in major television shows and movies can be very profitable for many brands looking to showcase their goods or services to a new crowd of consumers. One black fashion designer was granted a huge opportunity to feature his products on a hit drama series.
Cedric Brown is a talented fashion designer and owner of the Cedric Brown Collection, a luxury brand of scarves, kimonos, ties, and handkerchiefs. After a chance meeting with actor Lamman Rucker, who stars on Greenleaf on the OWN network, Brown was able to get his kimonos placed in an episode.
“In our meeting, I had no idea which characters were going to wear my designs. I was just grateful to have my pieces on the show,” said Brown in an email interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE. “However, Ms. Johnetta requested all of the pocket squares for Lamman Rucker’s character, Jacob Greenleaf, and she bought two kimono capes for Lynn Whitfield’s
character, Lady Mae. A few days later, she contacted me and told me that Lynn Whitfield loved my pieces. Ms. Whitfield requested a longer blue kimono, which had to be completed in a month, for a special scene.”Brown comes from a fashi
on background and got the idea for creating the kimonos during his school years working on a class project. “My professor critiqued my concept and told me to study the designer Halston, who created matching jumpsuits and kimonos,” he said.“One of Halston’s famous pieces was a collaboration with the artist Jackson Pollock, which had his abstract paintings on the fabric, His idea inspired me to create my own look using my artistic background. My colorful, abstract artwork, once placed on fine fabric, sends a message of class, authenticity, and distinction. I fell in love with the symbiotic movement of the fabric with the model’s body.”
Brown says the attention has been overwhelming with new eyes on his brand with many eagerly looking to purchase one of his beautiful designs.
“Friends and family members were tagging me all over social media with clips and scenes of Greenleaf,” he explained. “I received phone calls from women all over the country, who just saw my work from the episode. They expressed their love and appreciation,” he continued. “A lot of my designs were selling out, so I had to turn a few styles into pre-orders.”