There’s a question we encourage every client to ask before launching Pride creative: who actually made this? Not who approved it, or who signed the sponsorship check — who held the pen? REI’s 2026 “Made With Pride” collection answers that question right in the name, and it’s one of the cleanest examples we’ve seen this year of community-made creative done properly.
The Collaboration
For this year’s collection, REI partnered with Alva Skog, a nonbinary illustrator whose bold, playful work explores identity and connection. Skog’s artwork runs across a full product lineup — apparel, bags, camping chairs and water bottles — anchored by a stylized, multicolored topography of mountain ridges that fuses the outdoor settings REI customers live in with the rainbow flag’s familiar palette.
Skog’s framing of the work is worth quoting: “My hope is that this little image will spark inspiration to spend more time outdoors together and a reminder that rest is resistance.”
And REI isn’t stopping at product — the co-op is hosting Pride pop-up events in Denver, Seattle and Washington, D.C., while reaffirming its year-round commitment to expanding outdoor access for LGBTQ+ communities.
Made By the Community, Not Just For It
Here’s why this matters beyond one retailer’s June collection. According to DISQO’s research on brand integrity and LGBTQ+ inclusion, 87% of LGBTQ+ audiences say inclusion must come from the inside out — with queer people involved in the creation of the ads themselves. Not consulted afterward. Not represented in the casting. Involved in the making.
That’s the line between authentic and performative, and it’s measurable. A rainbow-colored product designed by the same internal team that does every other seasonal refresh is for the community. A collection built on a queer artist’s actual creative vision — with their name on it, their perspective shaping it, and their voice in the campaign — is by the community. LGBTQ+ consumers can tell the difference instantly, and the research says they’re actively looking for it.
The Creative-Process Benchmark
When we walk clients through what authentic Pride engagement looks like, the conversation usually starts with budgets and placements. But the REI model suggests the more important early question is about process. A few markers worth borrowing:
- Credit the artist by name. Skog isn’t an anonymous vendor — they’re the campaign’s creative identity. That visibility is itself representation.
- Let the work be the artist’s. The topography design is recognizably Skog’s style, not a brand template with rainbow fills. Trusting a queer artist’s vision signals confidence, not box-checking.
- Connect the creative to the brand’s actual mission. REI’s collection is about the outdoors because REI is about the outdoors — and “rest is resistance” lands differently coming from a brand whose whole business is helping people get outside.
- Back it with presence. Pop-ups and year-round access programming give the collection a community context beyond the shelf.
In a Pride season where so many brands have gone quiet, the ones still showing up are being watched closely — by the community and by the industry. REI’s answer to “what does authentic look like in 2026?” is refreshingly simple: hire queer creatives, credit them, and let them lead.REI — “Made With Pride”
If your brand is rethinking its creative process for LGBTQ+ campaigns — who’s in the room, and who’s holding the pen — we’d love to compare notes.
Sources: REI Newsroom, DISQO: Brand Integrity and LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Campaign US
