Dive Brief:

• Macy’s is partnering with Grammy-winning pop stars Sir Elton John and Lady Gaga for Love Bravery, a limited-edition line of apparel and accessories coming to stores this spring, the retailer announced on Wednesday.
• Love Bravery, part of Macy’s American Icons campaign to celebrate the nation’s traditions and people, seeks to “inspire compassion and combat prejudice,” Macy’s said.
• Macy’s will offer the Love Bravery line from May 9 through Aug. 30, with 25% of the purchase price benefiting Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, which is committed to supporting and empowering young people, and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which raises funds for HIV prevention and education.

Dive Insight:

Macy’s, Elton John and Lady Gaga created Love Bravery in collaboration with Gaga’s sister, Natali Germanotta, and designer Brandon Maxwell. The line spans multiple categories, including shirts, outerwear, clutches, backpacks and even speakers, water bottles and skateboards, all rendered in eye-popping colors and vibrant graphics.

Macy’s said Love Bravery heralds the first in a series of efforts “to make people feel proud of who they are.” The retailer also said the Born This Way Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation are bringing together young people to share content from the Love Bravery campaign, but did not disclose which social media channels and other platforms it will use to spread the message.

“We are so proud to present a line that is not only fun and bold, but also stands for something so meaningful and important,” Macy’s CMO Marguerite Reardon, who announced her resignation earlier this month, said in a press release.

The Love Bravery campaign arrives at a time when retailers are exhibiting an increasing willingness to take stands on hot-button social issues. As some state legislatures debate limiting public restroom use to the gender stated on an individual's birth certificate, Target last week clarified that customers in its stores are free to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.

While millennial shoppers in particular are more open to the needs of the LGBT community and more likely to oppose restrictions on issues like bathroom use by transgender people, Target’s declaration has alienated other demographic segments. A petition started by the American Family Association conservative Christian activist group calling on consumers to boycott Target has gained roughly 750,000 signatures.