Back to School, Black-Owned: What Your Kids (and You) Actually Need

Somewhere in your house right now there is a list. It has “backpack” on it. It has “shoes” on it. Depending on the grade, maybe somebody wrote “NEW UNDERWEAR” in all caps like the store might run out.

Back-to-school shopping moves fast, which is exactly why it’s so easy to default to whatever’s stacked at the front of the big-box store. Nobody’s judging. You have a limited number of weekends and an unknown number of school supply lists.

But here’s the thing about defaulting: it’s a decision too. And this year, we’d love for a few of those decisions to land with Black-owned brands that have already done the hard part—building backpacks, shoes, and baby essentials that were actually designed with your kid in mind, not retrofitted for them after the fact.

So consider this the shortcut. Not a 40-brand mega-list you’ll bookmark and never open again. Just the specific things on your list, matched to the brand built for that exact assignment.

If Your Kid’s Backpack Needs to Actually Look Like Them

Representation matters everywhere, but it matters a specific amount when it’s strapped to your child’s back for six hours a day, five days a week.

Cocoa Cutie was started by an artist named Denise who went looking for gifts for her nieces and couldn’t find products that matched their skin tone. So she made them herself. What began as a design project has grown into a full lineup of children’s apparel, backpacks, lunch bags, and accessories, all built around the same idea: kids of every shade get to see themselves in what they carry, wear, and unpack at lunch.

This isn’t a backpack with a “diversity” sticker slapped on the front. It’s a brand built by someone who went looking for something specific and, when she couldn’t find it, made it instead. That’s the whole back-to-school assignment, honestly.

Your move: Start here if backpacks, lunch totes, or first-day outfits are still open on your list. One purchase covers more than one line item.

If First-Day Shoes Are the Assignment

There is a very particular kind of pressure attached to first-day-of-school shoes. They have to survive recess, look good in the first-day photo, and somehow still fit in October.

Mini Soles built an entire brand around that pressure. It’s a kids’ shoe line that blends high-fashion instincts with classic, durable styling—shoes made for a “mini human,” as the brand puts it, not a smaller version of an adult shoe with less thought put into it. The point isn’t just cute. It’s craftsmanship sized down without being simplified down.

Your move: If your kid has opinions about their shoes—and by a certain age, they all do—let them pick from something actually designed for their feet and their taste, not just whatever was left in their size.

If Baby’s Skin and Hair Need a Reset Before Daycare or Pre-K

New environment, new schedule, new exposure to approximately every germ in a three-mile radius—a new school year is a lot for a little one’s skin and hair, even before anyone opens a single workbook.

AYÉYA built its baby line—the Peace Baby Body Butter and the Gratitude Baby 2-in-1 Conditioner—as part of a bigger mission that started with founder Olowo-n’djo “Olo,” who also built the sustainable beauty brand Alaffia. AYÉYA works with cooperatives in many villages in Bolgatanga, Ghana. They help over 5,000 women artisans get shea and other ingredients directly, instead of using a middleman. When you buy the baby butter, you’re also funding that artisan network.

Your move: Add the body butter to bath time and the 2-in-1 to wash day. Simple swap, bigger story behind it than most things on the school supply list.

If the Grown-Ups Need Help Adjusting Too

Back-to-school season somehow always ends up being entirely about the kids. Meanwhile, you’re waking up earlier, packing lunches, managing drop-off, and trying to remember which day somebody needs sneakers instead of regular shoes.

BLK & Bold makes the coffee for that part of the assignment. The Black-owned specialty coffee company offers ground coffee, whole beans, and single-serve pods, so whether your morning routine involves measuring the perfect pour-over or pressing one button before anyone asks you a question, there’s an option that fits.

This isn’t technically on the school supply list. It may still be the item that gets the whole household out the door.

Your move: Restock the coffee before the first alarm moves back thirty minutes. The kids get new gear. You get a fighting chance.

Shop the Whole List

Here’s the recap: Cocoa Cutie for backpacks and apparel that actually represents your kid. Mini Soles for first-day shoes built with real craftsmanship. AYÉYA for baby’s skin and hair reset. And BLK & Bold for the grown-ups adjusting to earlier mornings right along with them.

You don’t have to buy all of it in one weekend. Cross off one thing at a time, and let it be Black-owned while you’re at it.

— Kia