Black Owned Brands

By Raelen Todd BLACKOWNED BRANDS

When we think about the fashion industry and the creatives pioneering it, we recognize that fashion now is far more diverse than ever before. This transformation stems from civil rights movements that helped categorize diversity in fashion as a necessity. Black-owned brands have been historically fundamental in organizing grassroot efforts and, to this day, they continue to ignite social change. Proving to be more than just their products and services, these businesses are representations of a future grounded in unity and inclusion: each new designer or brand is an emerging voice for people of color in the fashion industry, and it’s important to appreciate the designers and entrepreneurs who are paving the way for younger generations.

Importance of the Diverse Designer

High-end, designer fashion was once completely white-dominated. Even black designers like Ann Lowe (the first renowned African-American designer) didn’t receive credit for any of her designs. Since then, the industry has done a 360, and designers like Kerby Jean-Raymond and Christopher John Rogers continue to break down the barriers once blocking black designers from reaching their high-end status. Kerby Jean-Raymond, founder of Pyer Moss and Your Friends in New York, a new platform designed to empower the next generation of black creatives, is a Brooklyn-born designer whose high-end fashion brand is continuously blowing away the fashion world and amplifying black voices in the process.

Creating Spaces to Fight Prejudice

While the powerhouse behind Pyer Moss has made significant change through his brand and through his individual voice, he struggles with how he’s perceived within the fashion industry as a black designer: “As much as I wanted to just be the black Yohji Yamamoto and not have my race show up in my work, I can’t because it was like the world was still treating me like what I am, which is a black man from Brooklyn who, for the most part people don’t respect until they learn what I do” he told Good Morning Vogue. Kerby Jean-Raymond is known for actively fighting for fair representation in the universe of high-end fashion, breaking ground for streetwear brands including Jackson Napier, 10 deep, 4hunnid, All Caps Studio, Wata, etc. to have successful platforms within this industry. By being a conscious black man in the designer world, he has extended the possibilities for every black streetwear designer for years to come.

“As much as I wanted to just be the black Yohji Yamamoto and not have my race show up in my work, I can’t because it was like the world was still treating me like what I am, which is a black man from Brooklyn who, for the most part people don’t respect until they learn what I do.”

KIRBY JEAN-RAYMOND

Disabling the Feminine Narrative

Christopher John Rogers, an eponymous brand, exists to create emotional and sensitive clothing with a focus on effortful dressing, directed towards an individual with a strong sense of self. Rogers, another Brooklyn Native, has dressed the likes of Michelle Obama, Lizzo, Rihanna, and Cardi B. Rogers’ abstract and funky designs help his customers feel unique in his clothes, empowering them to be comfortable as their truest selves. As a black designer who creates clothing for women, Rogers bridges the gap between masculinity and femininity outside the bubble of what the world expects from black designers. He continues to create space for black men to excel in creating womenswear, and brands like FE Noel, Telfar, Daily Paper, Oyemwen, Brandon Blackwood, etc. are examples of it.

International Significance of the Black Designer

Designers like Samuel Ross represent different nationalities and ethnicities in the fashion world. Samuel Ross (founder of ‘A-COLDWALL’ and ex-Virgil Abloh assistant) is a UK designer who began his journey in the fashion industry in the projects of Brixton, London (the heart of the civil rights movement in the Uk) selling counterfeit sportswear. Once Ross moved outside of London, he told Good Morning Vogue how he experienced a “constant ebb and flow between cultural influences” that ultimately shaped him as not only a designer, but a videographer, and an artist. His brand A-COLD-WALL is a high end menswear brand that is known for taking architectural forms, civil rights activism, and brutalism and combining them to create garments that represent the 21st century. Through A-COLD-WALL, Ross set up an initiative to distribute grants to black-owned businesses. As a result, he has begun to usher in a new generation of black creatives in London, making it possible for brands like Cold Laundry, B-Side, Lagoniassa, Labrum, Marr, etc. to have success.

Pioneering Sustainability

Ahluwalia is a designer who, like Kerby Jean Raymond, fights for sustainability through her work.. She’s the founder of her eponymous luxury menswear brand, Ahluwalia, and she uses her brand identity to express the importance of sustainability. While talking to Good Morning Vogue about the amount of fabric we, the West, discard in Africa and Asia she explained why being a sustainable brand is important and personal to her. “And I think once I saw that and saw the sheer volume of like- what we discard, I think there was no going back after that...Where we grow the materials to make cotton, where we dump our rubbish, it’s never in the West...and it’s always someone else’s problem.” Her entire line/collection is made out of repurposed materials and fabrics and that’s what makes her so unique. She hopes that “the idea of having something that no one else has got exactly the same as you” encourages people to hold onto it. She has exposed the UK fashion industry to how harmful our waste is, and in the process of practicing what she preaches, inspires brands like ROOP, Disa Allsopp, Tove Studio, Flat Fifteen, etc. to integrate sustainability into their fashion businesses.

Unlocking the Gate

Each aforementioned brand is making significant change in the industry by using their passions as tools in the name of activism. Their presence shows the world that you cannot silence the black creative, and the designers’ voices are essential in making fashion inclusive. Every new black owned brand is an addition to the fight for change into a once excluded industry. They make room for the next generation of powerful and talented black creatives to change the world. Raymond, Rogers, Ross, and Ahluwalia represent multiple generations who have been fighting for a spot in this prestigious, cut-throat industry. Every move they make is to encourage, empower, and shatter barriers so the new generations of black creatives can have a fair chance at success. From getting no credit on their designs to trailblazing through a gate-keeped industry, black designers continue to unlock the high-fashion utopia in order to expand the world beyond the gate for younger generations until it only represents freedom and inclusion.