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Over the weekend, Black history was being made in each and every venue that one could imagine. In Las Vegas, Nigeria took down Team USA in a stunning upset led by Mike Brown. Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka, Sha'Carri Richardson and many of the world's top athletes gathered for the ESPYs. Not to mention, Zaila Avant-Garde took her victory lap as the Scripps Spelling Bee champion. In the midst of all that happened, Kerby-Jean Raymond's label, Pyer Moss, has unveiled its first-ever couture collection.
Kerby-Jean Raymond has ventured into territory that no Black American designer has ever done before. Raymond's label, Pyer Moss unveiled its highly anticipated "WAT U IZ" collection at the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. With this debut, Raymond became the first Black American designer to debut a collection at this top French fashion-forward event. Fittingly, his collection features Black inventions like hot rollers, chess boards and refrigerators that read, “BUT WHO INVENTED BLACK TRAUMA?”
“The stories the world tells us about us are about pain,” Raymond said about the collection.
The stories we tell about each other about our own lives are about how grandma loved us with bible verses and lemonade, how bloodlines never defined who our aunts and uncles were, how the house was always big enough to take in everybody we loved. We hold stories of glory in our bodies. Black imagination is this world’s greatest technology.”
In addition to sharing the collection at Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, Raymond also showcased his work at the Villa Lewardo in Irvington, New York. The venue was specifically picked because it was once occupied by the nation's first Black millionaire, Madame C.J. Walker. To complete his showcase, the top designer asked former Black Panther chairwoman Elaine Brown to introduce his work.
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