“Where the ocean of creative arts and style runs deepest, it is there where you will find me, drowning in the depths of fashion. For the greatest hazard in all life, would be to not risk it all for Love and for your passion.”
The ARMY OF LUV is a non-profit organization funded and operated by the Bless By Bless fashion brand. The man behind the brand is Bless Mazarura. Bless is an artist, self-taught fashion designer, and advocate for change who grew up in rural Zimbabwe. He moved to the United States to study at Montserrat College of Art & now resides in New York City. The Bless by Bless brand offers timeless wardrobe essentials, with minimal asymmetrical silhouettes mainly consisting of convertible, gender-neutral, ready-to-wear capsules influenced by the traditional African garments of its designer’s heritage. At the brand’s core is a focus on empowering and unifying.
Finding commercial success in the States, Bless has collaborated with Eddie Bauer, Ducati, Moschino, Target, Ferrari, MTV, J Crew, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Macy’s, Guess, and more. However, Bless wanted to do more with his brand. He noticed that in the States, there were few movements for love and almost no representation of love that is powerful, as opposed to weak, and wondered what it would be like to form an army of people with pure, good intentions. The West’s go, get, crush mentality starkly contrasted the “whatever you don’t have—build it” attitude of his African roots. So, Bless founded the ARMY OF LUV. This community-based platform employs a tribal mentality consisting of accountability, family, and emotional support, where individuals can get wellness coaching.
Bless in the studio.
Courtesy of thearmyofluv.com
Newly established in 2019, the ARMY OF LUV’s first goal was to provide philanthropic support to children attending the Mushimbo Primary School in Mushimbo, Zimbabwe. Proceeds from the ARMY OF LUV clothing line have already funded the education of several children in Zimbabwe.
Today, ARMY OF LUV is looking to collaborate with schools, colleges, influencers, artists, and celebrities to co-design loungewear limited-edition collections in the summer and fall of 2022. Further, Bless is working with software designers to construct the next phase of the organization—THE ARMY OF LUV ACADEMY, an app and online community that provides free emotional intelligence training. The ACADEMY will inspire diversity, unity, love, and equality in a world divided by emotional illiteracy. For Bless, emotional intelligence combines self-love, self-awareness, self-management, empathy, and social skills. Humans need to belong and require the influence of love to believe in ourselves; however, there is little training around self-love, especially in the luxury fashion worlds of New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston.
Bless’s attitude of resourcefulness and innovation in the face of western capitalism, combined with his unabashed optimism, makes him one of the most compelling fashion designers of our time. He designs for an army of lovers, advocating for common humanity. Bless isn’t just selling fashion—he’s offering a tribe.