It makes sense that Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason first met as high school students on an HBCU tour: Ever since that fateful day, the couple has been building a life that revolves around the exploration of African Diaspora culture, from traveling in service of learning more about Black history to launching AphroChic, their media and design company that looks at lifestyle and home through a Black lens.

The brand, known for its magazine, podcast, and two beloved books, is also a reflection of the couple’s backgrounds in social justice and philosophy. Jeanine is a former policy attorney, while Bryan holds a masters degree in African Diaspora studies from UC Berkeley. Together they pour their knowledge into making AphroChic “the first global platform of its kind, creating space for exploration, edification, cultivation, and self-expression for Black communities worldwide.” And now the duo is stretching their reach even further with the debut of AphroChic Home, a collection of furniture, tabletop, decor, and more. “It’s a celebration of the legacy of Black design, from the enslaved ceramicists and metallurgists who created everyday decorative artworks like vases and flatware to the 20th-century architects who laid the foundation for much of the regency and midcentury style we see today,” says Bryan.

Jeanine and Bryan are also offering a design consultation service, a trade program, and a wedding gift registry. But when they’re not working on their many ventures, you can find them listening to music, reading classic Black literature, and looking for treasures to add to their Diaspora art collection. Today, the couple writes in from their Hudson Valley home, AphroFarmhouse, with the book they’d bring to a desert island, their go-to playlists for inspiration, and the film aesthetic that they both adore. Read on…

You’re invited to dinner. What’s your go-to gift?

Any piece from our Black Love Bone China collection, which is part of AphroChic Home. We really loved designing these pieces together. A set of dinner and dessert plates are the perfect host gift because they’re such meaningful pieces, celebrating aspects of Black love and important movements, from the fight for LGBTQ+ rights to BLM. — Jeanine

What’s your desert island design/art/architecture-related book?

Believe it or not, we don’t read a ton of design books—even though we write them! Instead, we like to read philosophical texts, sociology books, and things that speak to the human condition. Design for us is all about looking at what’s going on in the world and developing solutions. Right now, we’re reading The Price of the Ticket, an anthology of essays by James Baldwin. On the weekends, we’ll sit and read chapters with each other and discuss how the work relates to what we do as designers today. That’s definitely the book we’d have with us on a deserted island. —Bryan

What podcast or playlist do you put on when you need inspiration?

Music plays in our home all day long. Bryan loves creating mixtapes. He develops playlists for starting the day, for the perfect wind down. He has Sunday jazz playlists, hip-hop collections, and oldies we grew up with in Philly. Right now, I’m loving his Coffee House playlist—the perfect blend of ’90s R&B, neo-soul, and hip-hop. It gives you all the energy you need to get through the day. We have it available in The Listening Room, where you can listen to his playlists and episodes of The AphroChic Podcast. — Jeanine

What’s a film or TV show whose aesthetic has stuck with you?

We love Japanese culture and Samurai movies, both the classic Kurosawa flicks and more modern, Samurai-style films like John Wick. In the John Wick series, in addition to the very cool action sequences, the set designs are gorgeous. In the first film, the jazz lounge in the Continental really stuck with me. They had two sofas in different hues and textures seated directly across from each other, one red and one gray. I loved that look so much I replicated it in one of our interior design projects. We featured the project in Issue No. 16 of AphroChic magazine. Kudos to the set designer who thought out of the box on that one! — Jeanine

What has been your best house upgrade?

We moved into our first home in 2020, and Jeanine upgraded the entire kitchen for my birthday. She got the latest oven and range—all perfect for a chef’s kitchen. She also designed a custom bar for prepping meals and created a breakfast nook with a table, dining chairs, and a settee. I do most of the cooking, which can be challenging, as everyone in our home has specific dietary needs, but with those upgrades the kitchen is also a space for relaxing and being together and one that I enjoy creating in. — Bryan

First design love?

My wife. She’s the source of everything I know about design and the reason why it became important to me. — Bryan

My first design love was Strawberry Shortcake. She inspired the design of my bedroom when I was six. But I think even more important is my lasting design love, which is creating things with my husband. Everything you see at AphroChic is a reflection of us and our love for one another. — Jeanine

Something you’re coveting?

I just saw that Kehinde Wiley has come out with leather boxing gloves. We practice boxing in our wellness room and I’m seriously trying to figure out where I can place the gloves in the space. They’re too beautiful to use practically, but I’d love for them to be displayed as a sculptural piece in the room. — Jeanine

Thanks so much, Jeanine and Bryan! Follow their work at @aphrochic and aphrochic.com.