FASHION FORWARD
KERBY JEAN-RAYMOND| 33
Inherent in Kerby Jean-Raymond’s work for
Pyer Moss, the fashion label he founded
in 2013, is a dedication to centering the
black American experience. That vision
can be seen in all aspects of the brand—
from a shirt emblazoned with the names
of unarmed victims of police brutality to a
joyous runway show hosted in Brooklyn’s
historic Weeksville neighborhood, one of
America’s first free black communities.
Pyer Moss is now a go-to brand for figures
such as Michelle Obama and Colin
Kaepernick, and in 2018, Jean-Raymond
won the prestigious CFDA/Vogue Fashion
Fund Award. ÑCady LangRISING IN THE RANKS
COCO GAUFF | 15
By Billie Jean KingCoco Gauff has a certain It factor.
When she turned 15 in March, she
was the 453rd-ranked women’s tennis
player in the world. She didn’t stay
there for long. Born into an athletic
family, Coco had an amazing run at
Wimbledon this summer, then backed
it up with a strong showing at the U.S.
Open. Now, after an upward climb—
and capturing her first title in Linz,
Austria—she’s ranked No. 68. That is
a good season for almost any player,
let alone one who is barely old enough
to have her driver’s license. Coco is a
special one. She loves the big stage, is
very well prepared on and off the court,
and—most importantly—she knows
there are so many more opportunities
ahead for her life and her career.
But because she has proved she is
exceptional at tennis, she now has a
platform to inspire all of us, especially
young people.
King is the founder of the Women’s Sports
Foundation and the Women’s Tennis
AssociationMAKING CRICKET
HISTORY
BEN STOKES | 28
By Stephen Fry
The ancient Greeks had a name
for it: aristeia—a warrior’s
sublime moment, the defining
blaze of glory, the acme, the
apex, the summit. In summer
2019, Ben Stokes unleashed
two such explosions of
greatness, each one enough
to cement his reputation as
one of the foremost all-around
talents in cricketing history.
Returning from an eight-match
ban for “bringing the game into
disrepute,” following a 2018
prosecution—and subsequent
acquittal—for affray, he
demonstrated not just his
world-class talent as batsman,
bowler and fielder, but also
the fine-tuned quality of his
cricketing brain, his exquisite
ability to read a game and time
his responses to it. Without
him, England would not be world
cricket champions and we
would have lost a subsequent
five-match series to our old rival
Australia. He’ll never have to
buy a drink again.
Fry is a U.K.-based actor, writer and
comedian
THE PRODUCER
MARSAI MARTIN | 15
At age 10, Marsai Martin made
her first pitch as a future
executive: she proposed the idea
that would become the movie
Little, a riff on the 1988 Tom
Hanks hit Big, released earlier
this year. Martin, now 15, also
starred in the movie and became
one of its executive producers,
the youngest person ever to
hold that title for a major-studio
release—and all of that on top of
her regular gig as a star of ABC’s
Black-ish. Now Martin heads her
own production company, Genius
Productions; its first release, a
comedy called StepMonster, is
already in the works. Her aim is
to tell more stories, with diverse
casts, that people her age can
relate to—in other words, she’s
shaping the culture, a far cry
from just selling it to an audience.
ÑStephanie Zacharek