For their eighth showroom, the Black in Fashion Council went even bigger and more global than before. Hailing from places including Mexico, Cameroon, and France, designers showcased their collections and pieces to buyers, influencers, and press during New York Fashion Week at the High Line Nine, an art gallery.
Some of year’s designers had a rich past that helped influence their collections: Muktar Onifade of GVDS hailed from a mechanical engineering background before transitioning into fashion. While working his day job at GE, he would ask local seamstresses to teach him how to sew at night, and now he incorporates his technical background into his streetwear pieces. Tiffany Haynes of QOH Jewelry was a fashion intern at Interview magazine when she first discovered her passion for jewelry. Eventually she began sketching and now creates her own fine jewelry inspired by the infrastructure of New York City.
Designers also came from near and far, like Nia Thomas a born and raised New Yorker who now resides in Mexico City, where she sources her wool, beads, and materials and uses local artisans to create her handmade knits. When asked how the handmade pieces are knit to such precision that they look machine made, she said “artisans have been doing this since they were little girls and now they’re in their 50s. It takes about four days to make the pieces.” Nathalie Chebou Moth of Omôl, a Cameroonian designer based in Paris, makes handwoven raffia bags that double as a musical instrument when not being used to store items. They also come in a range of colorful bright neons, representative of Cameroon’s rich culture.
Personal stories were at the heart of some brands. Vanessa Bellan of V.Bellan relaunched her jewelry business after the passing of her daughter, creating pieces that she feels her daughter would have cherished. Today, she sells a mix of fun fashion and fine jewelry that ranges from more youthful styles with sunshine motifs to fancier styles with pearls. The twin brothers behind BruceGlen began their careers in fashion when they dropped out of university due to financial difficulty. These days their rainbow colored pants sets are getting top grades. As they said: “Sheryl Lee Ralph wore this to an interview with Oprah, and Oprah said ‘Oh my goodness, Sheryl, look at you—that’s an A plus plus!’ We didn’t get A’s in high school but we did with Oprah.”