Mugler is making a $50,000 donation to Baltimore School for the Arts as part of the brand’s collaboration with singer and actress Willow Smith. The endowment will go toward a grant aimed at helping build the creative workforce’s next generation.
Smith chose BSA for this project, which provides materials and educational resources for more than 400 students there.
BSA is the alma mater of Smith’s mother, actress, singer and producer Jada Pinkett Smith. Willow Smith is connected to the institution as well thanks to its commitment to inclusivity and diversity.
“I believe deeply in the mission of BSA and am thrilled Mugler will contribute to their continued growth and positive impact, which will help talented and driven young people succeed, no matter their chosen path,” Smith said in a statement.
The tie-in chimes with Mugler’s ethos, according to Sandrine Groslier, global president Mugler fashion and fragrances, at L’Oréal.
“Mugler is a cultural and creative laboratory,” she said, adding the brand daily tries to find new ideas, break molds and build a strong community bolstering inclusivity, diversity, self-expression and self-development.
BSA, a public high school, teaches vocal music, instrumental music, theater acting, theater production, dance, visual arts and film.
Some of BSA’s other well-known graduates include Makeba Riddick, Moses Ingram, Tiffany Boone, Josh Charles and Rachel Hilson.
Smith was named the face of Mugler’s women’s scent Alien Goddess in summer 2021. Brand executives subsequently asked her to help them find a project in which to invest.
On the interpersonal front, Smith and Mugler creative director Casey Cadwallader will go to BSA next year “to give some master classes, talk with students, help them to understand how to develop their careers, how to grow up — in a way,” said Groslier.
Read the announcement here.
