Kerby Jean-Raymond’s debut couture collection for Pyer Moss, Wat U Iz, was recently unveiled as the first Black American designed collection to present at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. It was a joyous spectacle, conjuring a wholehearted sense of celebration of community and Black invention. The collection sparked a dialogue akin to a history lesson but injected with an expedient dose of Pop Art humour. Shining a light on twenty-five overlooked inventions born from the minds of Black people, the garments abandoned the usual silhouettes of the brand opting instead for bulbous and quirky forms. Discernable in the designs were Black contributions such as the mop, peanut butter, ice cream, thermal hair curlers and the horseshoe, all found in a list at the US Library of Congress and the Black Inventor Online Museum. The campy surrealism redefined the possibilities of exceptional craftsmanship and the meaning of couture.
With the only woman leader of the Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown, opening the show with a poetic speech, the necessity of mobilisation became ever apparent. The vivacious vocals of rapper 22Gz and the operatic background singers bellowed over the live music soon after, complimentary to the clothes, and elevating what could have been a classic catwalk to a jubilant spectacle, unparalleled in its exuberant atmosphere. Simultaneously tongue-in-cheek and dead serious, the collection gave effect to a steadfast message on the erasure of Black and Brown history as a direct result of whitewashing. Kerby proposed to play with the oppressive structures that have failed people of colour in the past – to not only defy them but also to rewrite them.
With the only woman leader of the Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown, opening the show with a poetic speech, the necessity of mobilisation became ever apparent. The vivacious vocals of rapper 22Gz and the operatic background singers bellowed over the live music soon after, complimentary to the clothes, and elevating what could have been a classic catwalk to a jubilant spectacle, unparalleled in its exuberant atmosphere. Simultaneously tongue-in-cheek and dead serious, the collection gave effect to a steadfast message on the erasure of Black and Brown history as a direct result of whitewashing. Kerby proposed to play with the oppressive structures that have failed people of colour in the past – to not only defy them but also to rewrite them.