Houston Designer Uses Art to Challenge Exxon

Texas-Based Designer Josh Allen Sparks Conversations Around Land Ownership Through Film & Fashion

Last month, Houston-native clothing designer Josh Allen was featured for a profile in Essence for his work in art, film and fashion, which includes the recent release of his short film aimed at spreading awareness over the plans made by Exxon to store Carbon gases underground near residential neighborhoods in Houston.

The Meaning Behind “Richard and Grace”

Allen launched his fashion label, “Richard and Grace,” in 2013, not long after he graduated high school. The art-focused clothing brand is inspired by and named after his grandparents, the folks who he credits for teaching him “the value of care and endurance” while growing up in Houston. “Richard and Grace” has become more than just a clothing line since its creation, and Allen stresses that his label classifies as art before fashion. Founded under the dogma “with chaos comes unity,” one of the driving forces of the enterprise is, as he puts it, to demonstrate how “chaos brings people together, even when it feels like it’s tearing us apart, I want ‘Richard and Grace’ to show that unity is possible, not in spite of chaos, but through it.”

Exposing Exxon’s Underground Carbon Storage

Over the summer, Allen learned about Exxon’s plans to house carbon gasses underground, right next to several residential areas in Houston, his hometown. The film he just released is called “Carbon (C02)” and is a short (under 5 minutes long) video tied to the latest Texas-themed “HERO” product drop of his clothing line. Just like his work in fashion, the short is really more of an art piece than a film, and with it Allen aims to inform people about the carbon gas storage in Houston, and to promote a wider conversation around what happens when the government and big corporations lay claim to land for ‘public use’.

Carbon storage supposedly promises various benefits in slowing climate change and protecting our ecosystems, as well as offering increased economic opportunity, but it also raises questions about safety and health when stored near communities where people live. With the film, Allen hopes to provide some perspective on what it really means to own land in America, and it makes you wonder about what else happens to ‘public use’ land that the public doesn’t know about.

Watch “Carbon (CO2)” and Explore His Work

You can watch the video for free on the “Richard and Grace” YouTube channel, and you can shop the website and find more info about Allen’s work at richandgrace.com.