(BPRW) ESSENCE GU® and Kensington Grey Partner to Power a New Standard for Creator Culture at ESSENCE Festival Of Culture® Presented By Coca-Cola®

(Black PR Wire) NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- At the nation’s largest celebration of global Black culture, two creative forces partnered together to raise the bar for creators. ESSENCE GU® (ESSENCE Girls United) and Kensington Grey, the premier talent agency for Black digital storytellers, partnered during the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture® presented by Coca-Cola® to present a weekend of high-impact, content-forward experiences built by and for today’s most influential voices.

At the heart of this collaboration was a shared mission: elevate Black creators not just as talent—but as industry leaders, cultural architects, and the future of storytelling.

The ESSENCE GU® x Kensington Grey Creator Mixer: A Cultural Convergence

On Saturday, July 5th, the invite-only, #KGxGUHouseMixer, the crown jewel of the partnership, brought together a dynamic networking experience designed to spark collaboration across industries with an elite roster of Kensington Grey talent, creators on the rise, brand partners, and ESSENCE GU® tastemakers for an afternoon of curated conversation, intentional connection, and content creation featuring J.C. Carter, Scot Louie, and Justine’s Camera Roll.

“The ESSENCE Festival Of Culture® has become a rite of passage for creators, on par with New York Fashion Week and Coachella. It’s one of the largest and most culturally significant festivals in the world, and brands are increasingly turning to creators as the primary source of on-the-ground amplification. Whether it's a chance celebrity sighting, a standout culinary moment, or capturing the city’s stunning architecture, the opportunities for viral storytelling are endless because there really is no place like New Orleans.” said Shannae Ingleton, co-founder of Kensington Grey. “Partnering with ESSENCE on the GU® Creator Mixer was an easy ‘yes’ for us at Kensington Grey. For starters, the ESSENCE brand is iconic, and our missions are perfectly aligned when it comes to celebrating creators, art, community, and culture. We’re confident this is the first of many collaborations like this one.”