Essence USA – August 2019

POWER PLAYERS

they all have strived to make bold

cultural statements in their work a pri-

ority. Tennis superstar Serena Williams

has competed in many matches

wearing Abloh’s signature brand, Off-

White, while Kanye West and Rihanna

have worn Rousteing’s resurrected

label, Hood By Air. Rous teing, who

became head designer of Balmain at

the tender age of 25, was determined

to bring a fresh perspective to one of

the largest French brands. In 2017, the

then 31-year-old told The New York

Times that his background growing

up adopted, which he cites as his

strength, had a lot to do with him

being so adamant about pushing

diversity in his work. “I think I’ve

always been scared to not be loved,”

he said, “so I think that’s why I’m

always looking for diversity and to

bring inclusion into the world.”

Claire Sulmers, founder of the

renowned blog Fashion Bomb Daily, is

another ambassador of inclusivity in

the industry. “Because fashion is fre-

quently dismissed as being superficial

and inconsequential, those at the top

haven’t seen the need for people of

color to be represented beautifully or

for Black faces to populate mastheads

and positions of power behind the

scenes,” she observes. Since 2006

Sulmers has made it her mission to

spotlight Black fashion in the U.S. and

abroad. And while she still experiences

issues with access in certain parts of

the industry, she remains determined

to create and live “the bomb life” with-

out limitations. “Websites like Fashion

Bomb Daily have been highlighting the

need for inclusion over all these years,

and the fashion world is finally seeing

how trendsetting people like Rihanna

and Virgil Abloh are, and giving them

access,” she says. “A revolution and a

cultural renaissance are happening,

and we are here for it.”

But this new wave of Black cre-

ativity in high-end fashion is far from

the first that our global culture has

seen. For decades, there have been

numerous Black designers, journal-

ists, creators, directors and stylists

who are more than worthy to be

mentioned alongside the names of

some of the most prominent brands.

Due to outright racism and a lack of

capital and access to power networks,

it’s been far more difficult for our

talents to shine.

Two years ago, Gucci was called

out for allegedly copying the signature

design of Dapper Dan’s 1984 jacket.

Many on social media claimed that

the incident demonstrated a wide-

spread disregard for Black creativity.

Representatives of the Italian luxury

brand met with the legendary Harlem

designer soon after, and he agreed to

collaborate with the company on its

2018 menswear line. For some, Gucci is

still “canceled,” but Dapper Dan’s will-

ingness to hear what its reps had to

say shows progress.

“All luxury brands should look at

Dapper Dan and Gucci as an example

of what to do and what not to do,”

Sulmers says. “But in the end it’s a

wonderful time to be a person of color

in the fashion industry.”

Chasity Cooper is a communications

strategist and journalist based in Chicago.

Paris Fashion

Week

Womenswear

Spring/

Summer 2019

OLIVIER

ROUSTEING

Balmain Creative Director

FR

OM

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