Fashion Week is here again and New York kicks it off with a bang. Various talented fashion designers get to display their unique designs after hours and hours of preparations.
We’ll consider some of our favorite black designers and their latest fashion pieces exhibited at NYFW so far. Let’s go!!!
PYER MOSS
Fashion shows have gone beyond displaying dresses casually. Now, it’s interesting to see how designers capture life and unique experiences as their foundational and inspirational elements.
We have also seen how designers have lent their voice to various social movements through their pieces. Kerby-Jean Raymond is one of such designers.
For the NYFW, the acclaimed designer revealed his collaboration with a Painter with a powerful story, Richard Phillips. Richard was liberated after serving a jail time of 45 years for a crime he did not commit. His paintings were beautifully expressed in some of the pieces.
The Spring 2020 collection debuted this past Sunday, 8th September, 2019 at Kings Theater in Brooklyn. The set was titled, “Sister, the third and final chapter in the Pyer Moss trilogy, paying tributes to the godmother of rock ‘n’ roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
“I think relatively few people know that the sound of rock and roll was invented by a queer black woman in a church, I wanted to explore what that aesthetic might have looked like if her story would have been told”, Jean said.
Lauded as one of the best shows, the event had about 3000 people in attendance. A wonderful high point of the show was the beautiful sounds of the Pyer Moss Tabernacle Drip Choir Drenched in the Blood. They literally serenaded the hall with their sonorous voices.
The purpose of the inclusion of the choir was to give a new narrative to the history of rock ‘n’ roll and pay proper respects to the gospel singer and guitarist, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Kerby’s collection also payed homage to sensational artists like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott amongst others. It showcased rich artistic prints, monochromes, bold colours, leather guitar-shaped handbags and rock and roll flair.
It was not just a show but a delightsome EXPERIENCE!!!! Here are some of the pieces that dazzled on the runway.
TELFAR
Even though Telfar has its sights on Paris Fashion Week, it still gave us some deets at the NYFW. The famous fashion label hosted a private screening party in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on Friday night. The event featured a film on the new collection titled, “The World Isn’t Everything.”
Several black creatives came together for the movie’s production including longtime collaborator, Isiah, who wrote an amazing song for it. The film also featured Ashton Sanders who performed a dialogue written by Jeremy O. Harris. Harris had earlier collaborated with Telfar last season and wrote the monologue that opened the show.
The Spring 2020 collection is set to debut in Paris later this month. Although the designs are now on the internet, the designer stated that he wasn’t concerned about the design leaks before the due date. But the details on the Paris Fashion show has been concealed.
“The idea is that one day, we’ll be releasing things in our own time. We want to take the business into our own hands”, he says.
Telfar will be unveiling its new uniform designs for the Swiss Institute in New York today and will also be throwing a party to commemorate the opening night of Slave Play, a Broadway show by Jeremy O. Harris.
ROMEO HUNTE
Romeo is a luxury contemporary brand designer and has been known for creating modern and classic pieces that are functional, deluxe, beautiful and transitional. Romeo graced the runway with his delectable designs yesterday, September 8th, at Pier 59 Studios.
Hunte’s Spring 2020 Collection titled “DEFORMATION” features cool trends such as denim, prints, shorts, splash of colour, outerwears, giving off subtle street wear vibes.
LAQUAN SMITH
The phenomenal designer presented his Spring/Summer 2020 Collection yesterday at the NYFW. The concept of his collection highlighted western vibes rooted in cowboy flair. The ready to wear set factored trends that included animal prints, latex, denim and other notable fashion items such as leather jackets, shorts, Texas size belt buckles, bedazzled cowboy hats, amongst others.
A notable outfit in his compilation was a shirt worn by a male model. It highlighted the iconic catchphrase by Laura Dern (Renata Klain) in the movie, Pretty Little Liars, which says, “I will not, not be rich”.
Winnie Harlow, Cindy Bruna, Click Woods amongst others modeled LaQuan’s designs on the runway.
CHRISTOPHER JOHN ROGERS
Christopher is a 25 year old designer by night and a fashion consultant by day. He has found his niche in creating colourful pieces that include sparkly pink pantsuits, electric hued hand-painted bustiers, ruffled gowns.
He displayed his collection (which is his fifth) at the NYFW on Saturday. Rogers described the set as: if Art Deco illustrator Erté had drawn the French New Wave Film “Pierrot le Fou” but set in a Gaugum painting in the year 2050. His design compilation exhibited over the top pieces coupled with color, ruffles, tulle, workwear pants, button-down shirts decorated with Swarovski crystals.
“Swarovski is very much in line with our message of imbuing optimism, ebullience, and specialness in clothes,” Rogers said. “For Spring 2020, we really wanted to take advantage of the wide range of colors available to us by applying Swarovski hot fixed grids of hot pink, clementine, gray and green Swarovski crystals on a variety of silk bases”.
CONCLUSION
It is no longer news that black designers are constantly metamorphosing and raising the bar. We can only look forward to a brighter future in fashion!!!