Being an African American designers in today's America From Kerby Jean-Raymond to Tyler, The Creator the commitment of black culture in fashion

After winning the CFDA Award and being appointed as Reebok's global creative director, Kerby Jean-Raymond's has become an increasingly prominent name in the African American social landscape. A role that recently led him to the launch of "Your Friends" in New York, a new platform created together with Kering to combine fashion, art, music, philanthropy and well-being with the aim of "forming an ecosystem of creativity that reinvents the way consumers discover and interact with brands. "

Since the launch of Pyer Moss in 2013, the label has been busy building a narrative that talks about the heritage of the African American community, in order to create a brand totally devoted to Black Heritage. "For my part, Pyer Moss was introducing a new generation to fashion that previously didn't care about activism, music and collaboration," he said in an interview for The Cut. The role of Raymond and his brand helped strongly to relaunch the concept of social commitment on the part of fashion: the New York designer, for his latest fashion shows, rented the Weeksville Heritage Center and The King's Theater in Brooklyn, where last September he showed for the first time the “Vote or Die” a reinterpretation of the t-shirt and campaign first released in 2004 by Sean P." Diddy "Combs. The version of Jean-Raymond out today is designed to encourage voter registration and highlight non-profit organization "Rock the Vote". All proceeds will be donated to "Rock the Vote" and buyers will have the opportunity to register to vote directly on the brand's website.

The real strength of Kerbito lies in having immediately directed its work towards a very specific niche of consumers: "Do we want to continue to accept and ask for help from a system that does not represent us? As you can see, most of these tips they are all white, most of the creative directors are white and when blacks are asked to help run these organizations, most of the time we are treated the same way Africa is treated. We have a lot of creative resources and they take those. resources and sell them abroad" he told The Cut. Interviewed for the Good Morning Vogue series in the same magazine he explained why that will be his last interview, for the time being. He will begin to adopt the “Beyoncè approach”,  he will  only report when he has something of value to tell, especially to avoid being misunderstood in his statements. His work has become a shock wave impossible to miss, and the most important fashion media and magazines are realizing it. Glaring examples of this are her blue dress, worn by her fellow designer Aurora James in a painting by artist Jordan Casteel on the cover of the September issue of Vogue and, simultaneously, Angela Davis on the cover of September's Vanity Fair with a white Pyer Moss dress.

The clear line drawn by Kerbito seems to have been taken up by many other brands that have taken a stand. If the role of a brand is to want to convey positive values through their clothes, they can't turn their heads the other way. With the consumer at the center of the market, representing them will soon become a duty for these fashion giants.