When fashion changes society: Pyer Moss and anti-racism

What are the clothing items, events, fashion shows or fashion press campaigns that have perfectly reflected, and supported, the major social changes? Over the decades, many designers have used their fashion shows as sounding boards for issues considered controversial by public opinion. Commendable choices, both in form and substance, which often did not, however, represent issues that were truly experienced in the first person.

The exception, in this sense, is perfectly embodied by Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Mosswho for his Spring / Summer 2019 collection has “dared” to bring his fashion show to one of the symbolic places of the African American community in New York: Weeksville.

Neighborhood with a very rich history, founded by James Weeks in 1838 – that is just over a decade after the abolition of slavery in the Big Apple – this became the beating heart of one of the first free black communities in the United States. A choice of location, that of Jean-Raymond, did not come exactly by chance.

In fact, the designer’s own collection was a reflection on the contemporary panorama of African American lifeinspired in particular by a guide found during his research: a copy of the Negro Motorist Green Bookfirst published in the 1930s as a tool for black travelers, where restaurants, hotels, and generally macro areas relatively safe from discrimination in America were flagged.

The idea of ​​the creative director of Pyer Moss, starting from this old book, apparently far from our days, was to face anachronistic situations such as the “moment in which people, even today, call the police for black people who do a barbecue »exploring what it would be like the life of African Americans without the constant threat of racism. Thus, the designer brought the people of New York Fashion Week, accustomed to Manhattan, to the Weeksville Heritage Center, a historic site that commemorates the freedom of the 19th century African American community: it is here that Jean-Raymond set up his catwalk, between the buildings, where a gospel choir of forty people in white robes sang the soundtrack of the show. A perfect backdrop for the celebration of Black Culture, as well as for the powerful message of social denunciation aimed both at the fashion industry and at the whole world.

A narrative, that of Pyer Moss’s Spring / Summer 2019 collection, which had nothing to do with sensationalism: the few and significant slogans were reported with elegant firmness, from the pungent question “Now can you see us?” on a total white look, to the phrase “Stop calling 911 for cultural reasons”, on a simple t-shirt. The rest was a joyful and brilliant tale of the community that Jean-Raymond represents, including brightly colored prints, fluid hems, controlled volumes and languid fabrics. From theory to practice, even in the creation of the garments: the creative director has in fact collaborated with black artist Derrick Adams, who created 10 unique works for the collection, creating stunning illustrations of African Americans on shirts and dresses. Portraits of people who “do normal things”, reminding us how much even them more ordinary aspects of life are constantly threatenedwhen you are not part of the privileged slice of society.

Other stores of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

– When fashion changes society: Jean Paul Gaultier beyond the gender binary

– When fashion changes society: Carrie Hammer and disability on the catwalk

– When fashion changes society: Hussein Chalayan and the burqas on the catwalk