Pyer Moss Injects A Shot Of Hope Into New York Fashion Week

Known for his powerful political statements via his decadent women’s and men’s clothing collections, Kerby Jean-Raymond (founder and designer of the brand, Pyer Moss), struck another resonating chord this fashion week. Founded in 2013, Raymond’s brand has become known for elegant draping and structured tailoring, yet the presentation in which his designs are delivered is what sets him apart from his contemporaries. This season, Raymond placed show attendees in the heart of Brooklyn- Brownsville to be exact… a location that’s statistically been marked as ‘the hood.’ He transformed a Brownsville community center into a replica of an olden-time Black Baptist church and sent models down a transcending stretch- which started out as a dirt road and transitioned into a structured wooden runway flanked by multiple, flat screen TV’s. Raymond’s offerings for Spring/Summer 2019 included pastel-colored, silk oversized blazers with side-belting, sheer sheath dresses and quilted sashes -in blood red coloring- that resembled kneeling prayer pads. The men’s offerings included mosaic-print ‘Black family murals’ painted onto shirts and pants and a white tuxedo look with a cummerbund that begged the phrase, ‘See Us Now?’ In his second season of partnering with Reebok, Raymond showed men’s patent-leather overalls, women’s sweater dresses and delicate track pants. There was also a nod to the nostalgic Fubu brand with a few logo-emblazoned pieces including a sleeveless leather top and black tunic dress. Seated front-row, actress Ryan Destiny remarked that, “the show was amazing. A moment.” Supporting his setting of a Black church, Raymond was sure to include a necessary component- a Black choir, which hit all the notes of high heaven, moving the crowd to tears. In all of its glory, Raymond’s show did more than just show clothing, he injected a dose of hope and joy into an open-air Brooklyn location, situated right across the street from project housing. The full choir and the atmospheric tone was what ‘the hood’ needed in a time like today, “A conduit for deep traumatically spiritual healing,” said ‘Pose’ actor Ryan Jamaal Swain.