History reveals that the groundwork has been laid by numerous black designers, including “Dapper Dan” Day, Willi Smith, Patrick Kelly, Tracy Reese, Byron Lars and many more. Looking to the future, a few notable black designers are blazing their own paths to fashion success.
Virgil Abloh
During his career, Abloh has worked as a DJ, fashion designer, an entrepreneur and artistic director. Born in 1980 in Illinois to Ghanaian immigrants, Abloh studied civil engineering and architecture, earning a master’s degree. While at Illinois Institute of Technology, he became interested in fashion. After graduation, Abloh interned at Fendi along with Kanye West, who became a friend and business partner in subsequent ventures, including a retail store and as creative director for West.
In 2013, Abloh established his fashion line Off-White. The identifying marks of his designs are quotation marks, zip ties, capital letters and barricade tape. Abloh has also participated in a number of collaborations, including Nike, Ikea, luggage manufacturer Rimowa and SSense workout wear. Since 2018, he has been the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection.
The British Fashion Awards honored him with the Urban Luxe award in 2017; he was dubbed one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2018 and appointed to the board of directors of The Council of Fashion Designers of American in 2019. Abloh lives in Chicago with his wife and two children.
Telfar Clemens
Clemens was born in Queens, New York, to Liberian parents. Wanting to be an accountant, he attended Pace University in 2005 and studied business management. At the same time, he founded his unisex fashion brand Telfar.
Clemens didn’t have formal training in design, but that didn’t stop him from developing a line of genderless clothes. His inspiration comes from lifestyle brands as well as Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Yohji Yamamoto.
In 2017, Clemens redesigned the uniforms for the 400 White Castle franchises. During 2020, he announced a collaboration with Ugg for a fall 2021 launch. His most successful design to date has been the Telfar shopping bag, which is a simple, faux-leather rectangular tote with handles and shoulder straps embossed with Telfar’s logo. Its popularity won for him the CFDA’s American Accessories Designer of the Year award in 2020.
LaQuan Smith
Smith developed a passion for sewing at the age of 13 while being tutored by his grandmother. Once he’d learned the basics, his design creativity took over. Born in Queens, New York, he overcame cancer while still in high school. Rejected by both FIT and Parsons, he started his on-the-job training as an intern with BlackBook magazine in 2007.
By 2008, he had launched his brand, LaQuan Smith LLC, making 3D leggings. Smith’s debut at New York Fashion Week came in 2010. By 2015, he made the Forbes “30 Under 30” list. As part of the “buy now, wear now” movement in 2016, Smith provided attendees with iPads during his runway shows so that they could purchase pieces in real time.
Smith has said that he takes pride in his quality and craftsmanship. Although not all designers know how to sew, Smith recognizes that it helps with his precision in cut and fit. It also gives him greater control over the manufacturing and production process. His distinctive designs have attracted such icons as Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Lady Gaga, as well as a worldwide private order following.
Kerby Jean-Raymond
The son of Haitian-American parents, Kerby grew up in East Flatbush, a suburb of New York City. As a tribute to his mother who died in 1994, he uses “94” on some of his garments as part of his design identity. He was also inspired by her name, Vania Moss Pierre, when creating his menswear brand, Pyer Moss, in 2013.
Jean-Raymond attended The High School of Fashion Industries in New York City and interned with the fashion designer Kay Unger. It was Unger who gave him start-up money for a T-shirt line called Mary’s Jungle, which he later sold to finance his education at Hofstra University. He cites his time at Hofstra as the time when he learned not just how to be Black but how to be Black and proud.
The Pyer Moss collection in September 2015 introduced Jean-Raymond’s womenswear collection, which embraced Black Lives Matter. At this time, BLM was controversial, and many retailers decided not to carry the line for fear of potential backlash. Recognized by the Forbes “30 Under 30” list in 2015, the Pyer Moss brand also received the CFDA/Vogue Fashion fund award in 2020.
Christopher John Rogers
Rogers was born in 1994 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. From a young age, Rogers was encouraged by his family to draw, and they enrolled him in local art programs. His preference was to draw fantastic costumes for comic book characters, which may have ultimately influenced his design philosophy today.
After attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, Rogers created from his Brooklyn apartment. He started his namesake line in 2016 while working full-time as an associate designer at Diane von Furstenberg. He premiered his first collection to retailers in September 2018. In 2019, Rogers won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award and was named on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” List in 2020. By that time, he had already created designs for Michelle Obama, Cardi B and Beyoncé.
Rogers has been thrust into the spotlight with his oversized silhouettes, immaculate tailoring and bold colors. Influenced by Madame Grés, his designs are reminiscent of the Ebony Fashion Fairs with no-holds-barred styles and colors. Rogers is resurrecting couture with a new twist on glamour.
