Gunner Stahl has joined forces with H&M in celebration of National Voter Registration Day.
The Atlanta-based photographer is among the creatives who were tapped for the retail giant's H&M Votes x Blanks Artist Collab—a range of limited edition tees that encourage voter registration. Other participating artists are Baron Von Fancy, Sophia Chang, Sheila Rashid, Greg Mike, Trey Deveaux, and Joshua Vides.
The artists, who come from cities across the country, incorporated their artwork on H&M's new Blanks collection of elevated basics. The designs pay homage to their respective hometowns while underscoring "the importance H&M places on support of local communities around the country where its collaborators, customers and employees live and work."
"My vision is just something that I would personally see myself wear," Stahl told Complex about his design. "I made a pretty cool T-shirt that gets the message across, and it's also just a cool thing to have. It's going to represent a time in history one day."
Stahl said he participated in the collection because he knows how important it is to raise awareness about voting. He also said the 2020 election would be the first time he would cast a ballot.
"Well, I wasn't old enough to vote when Obama was in office. I was still a kid. In 2016, I don't even think I was in the country during that election," he explained. "This being my first time voting, I think it's very important. I know that I want to see change and this is where it starts. It's from going out and voting. Hopefully, I can encourage someone else to go out, vote, and see the change that they want to see."
The H&M Votes x Blanks Artist Collab is part of the brand's newly launched Voter Registration initiative, which aims to provide education on voting rights as well as help employees and customers gain access to voter registration. Along with the limited edition drop, H&M will donate to the regional ACLU chapters in the participating artists' hometowns.
The tees will hit select H&M US stores and H&M's online shop Sept. 22.
