PHOTO: COURTESY OF KJ MOODY, COURTESY OF DANASIA SUTTON, COURTESY OF DEX ROBINSON
This story was published on Who What Wear, in February 2021.
n honor of Black History Month, we”ve decided to launch an editorial initiative, Next Gen, where we’ll be highlighting creatives that are changing the fashion industry. Our intention with this series is to dive deeper into the people who have and continue to shape every facet of the fashion industry.
Whether looking from within the fashion industry or on its periphery, it’s easy to focus on what’s visibly inadequate: The lack of size-inclusive or disabled models on the runway or the whitening of Black celebrities on covers. Don’t get me wrong—this lack of visual representation is a crucial task to fix. But if we’re going to address systemic racism within the industry, it’s equally essential to pay attention to what’s happening behind the scenes. Often, our discourse about diversity in fashion doesn’t always include the men and women who’ve been shaping fashion forever: Black stylists.
Black stylists shape the cultural zeitgeist; they style the Beyoncé’s of the world, create costumes for shows like Insecure, champion the “Bushwick Birkins,” and shape what is considered “fashionable” long before they’re publicly recognized for doing so. Of course, some stylists have been able to build a public persona for themselves that rivals their A-list clientele, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve been able to address and conquer the inequities that face Black stylists. Consider the fact that Black stylists have historically struggled—and still do—when trying to pull luxury clothing for clients. How is it that many are veterans within the industry but be labeled as “rising talent” as if they weren’t already out here doing the work?
For the industry to truly be inclusive, there needs to be a reckoning with optical tokenism. We have to move beyond having the few go-to Black stylists, the few plus-size models, the few Asian American designers, and give more microphone time, more kudos, and more funding to BIPOC talent. There are so many incredible people of various races, gender orientations, religions, body types, socio-economic backgrounds, and ages that have already been leading change in the fashion industry. We decided we’d dedicate this installment in our Next Gen series to speak specifically to stylists for all these reasons.
Ahead you’ll hear from eight Black stylists not just about what needs to change within the industry but also get to know a little bit more about their work, their worldview, and what fashion means to them on a personal level.