Fashion month is fully underway, and black designers worldwide are showing up and out. From custom braided hair pieces to melted lace to slick-back buns, the hair choices for a collection help to tell each designer’s story and often explore their experiences with black culture and style throughout history.
Thanks to organizations like Black In Fashion Council, 15 Percent Pledge, and Harlem Fashion Row championing black-owned brands and initiating conversations around diversity and inclusion in the industry, ‘we’ can finally claim a spot in the fashion scene.
In 2022, 15 Percent Pledge reported more than 25% of the New York Fashion Week calendar featured black-owned brands, a historic moment for the industry. That number is under 10% this year, with just eight on the calendar. One can only wonder if fashion has hit a standstill when it comes to diversity and inclusion.
Contrary to the new ‘DEI’ filled world we live in, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to maintain what seemed to be promising results from 2020’s racial reckoning. New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman believes the industry is still very much in the same place it was in years ago.
This conversation extends to the behind-the-scenes of fashion shows. Last season, Vogue Business reported many Black models resorted to doing their own hair “because hairdressers lacked the expertise to work with textured hair.” A similar conversation sparked when a viral TikTok of white makeup artists struggling to color-match a black model’s skin surfaced online. “I look like a ghost,” the model, Megan Millian says in the video before cutting to a clip of her crying on Facetime.
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“This conversation is cyclical,” said the co-founder of Harlem Fashion Row, Brandice Daniel, in an interview. “The conversation keeps happening every few decades so we have to figure out, how do we set up something that lasts in perpetuity?”
But long before being welcomed into the industry, black people were fashionistas. Emerging black designers stand on the shoulders of black fashion icons like Anne Lowe, Dapper Dan, and Patrick Kelly, who weren’t necessarily given their flowers immediately. For an industry that has historically excluded us entirely, it’s comforting to see creatives like Rachel Scott, Sergio Hudson, Rebecca Henry, Akua Shabaka, and many more black talents seize the opportunity to put on for their communities and tap black beauty, styling, and casting experts along the way. After all, hair and beauty exemplify blackness in its purest form.
New York Fashion Week
Diotima
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The name Diotima is derived from Greek mythology, referring to the priestess who taught Socrates about love. Caribbean-American designer Rachel Scott is certainly doing just that for the American consumer as she takes an artisanal approach to her Jamaican-inspired designs. While intricate crochet creations have become the brand’s claim to fame, Diotima’s collections also tell the story of Scott’s Kingston upbringing through tailored suits, jamaica-red tops, and sparkly knitwear that exude Caribbean flair. From locs, to short-cuts, to curly and coily hair, Scott embraces all hair types and styles for her collections.
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The designer tapped go-to fashion week hair stylist Joey George for her sophomore debut at NYFW. The beauty concept jumps between a nod to Jamaican church women and the mysterious girl hanging the wall of the club. George and his hair team used elastic cords, and Kevin.Murphy’s Shimmer. Shine spray to create half-up, half-down styles slicked into a side-part, twisted, and swooped to hover over the models’ eyes. A few models rocked effortless ‘fros.
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Diotima passed the tests of some of fashion’s most esteemed judges, winning the CFDA’s 2023 American Emerging Designer of the Year, garnering a finalist seat for the LVMH prize and a nominee for the Latin American Fashion Award last year alone. Photos courtesy of @diomtima.world on Instagram.
Image Source: @modaoperandi
Sergio Hudson
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Sergio Hudson’s latest collection hit the runway in New York on Feb. 12. Defined by powerful feminine business casual pieces, Sergio Hudson has mastered grown and sexy. The designer’s profound understanding of womenswear may be why he’s been able to dress First Lady Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Kerry Washington, and Keke Palmer so seamlessly. Born in South Carolina, Hudson regularly draws inspiration from black culture to inform his designs.
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His most recent collection nods to black glamor (think Diahann Carroll in her prime) so the bombshell curl looks styled on melted lace wigs was fitting. Tamika Gibson, the viral Bold Hold lace glue creator, sponsored the entire hair process. As a brand whose ethos encourages boldness and confidence, the few models owning short, coily afros on Hudson’s runway also made sense.
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Laquan Smith
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Queen’s very own Laquan Smith has become a household name at NYFW for his ultra-sexy, show-stopping designs. Smith’s work exudes a hyper-feminine, bad b*tch aesthetic that has allowed him to consistently dress the who’s who of popular culture, including the bad gal herself, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya, Indya Moore, Tinashe, and Lori Harvey. This season, Smith zeroed in on 80s and 90s glamor using satin, fur, and high-shine fabrics paired with plunging necklines. We can’t talk about glamor and leave out hair and makeup. Fashion hairstylist Lacy Redway and her team went for sleekness and detail-oriented updos.
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The models’ slicked ponytails were juxtaposed by intentionally messy, spiked buns in the middle of the head, which left face cards on full display. Some models even had three buns, creating the illusion of a mohawk. Reminiscent of Grace Jones’s infamous short-cut, a few others sported TWA’s. Smith and Redway made sure braids were depicted as glamorous too, with a couple of models owning two slicked French braids around the crowns of the head.
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Frederick Anderson
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Though he founded his brand in 2018, Frederick Anderson is a fashion vet. Before going solo, Anderson worked under Douglas Hannant, a well-known New York designer, to create custom two-piece designs for the city’s elite. Since dabbling in fur, fragrance, and bespoke products with Hannant, Anderson has focused on curating a luxury experience around his designs with close attention to fabrics and texture. Anderson’s work has a contemporary feel though he’s spent over 20 years in the fashion game.
Image Source: SEAN ZANNI/PATRICK MCMULLAN VIA GETTY IMAGES
The latest Frederick Anderson collection flirts with the designer’s earliest memories of the Blue’s music scene in his hometown, Memphis, Tennessee, and his determination to keep the ‘Frederick Anderson woman’ in daring, happy, modern pieces. Anderson’s Southern roots came through in the hair choices. Celebrity stylist Edward Tricomi put the models in shaggy mullet-cut wigs, adding an androgynous, country feel to the presentation.
Image Source: SEAN ZANNI/PATRICK MCMULLAN VIA GETTY IMAGES
House of Aama
Image Source: WESTON MOSBURG
Hailing from Los Angeles, House of Aama is run by mother-daughter duo Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka. The clothes and their presentations often highlight the duo’s connection to their spirituality. Have you ever heard the term “divine feminine?” This up-and-coming brand’s clothing personifies the spiritual concept. Realizing their mission of “evoking dialogue, social commentary and conversations around heritage,” House of Aama offers exploratory textiles and designs that draw on black history.
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This was evident in its latest ready-to-wear collection. Set in a jazz speakeasy, several garments in the collection paid homage to LA’s Jazz scene in the 1970s while others pulled from the early 1900s at HBCUs. House of Aama stayed true to its roots as well by including new evening and resort wear pieces that they are oh-so-good at. Hair took a back seat at this show as the clothes did the talking in most of the looks. Each model sported classic styles that made sense in the show’s historical context. We spotted a mix of voluminous afros, sleek buns, straightened bob-cuts, and pixies.
Image Source: WESTON MOSBURG
London Fashion Week
Tolu Coker
Image Source: @jasonlloydevans
This year’s London Fashion Week will proceed almost directly after NYFW, and Tolu Coker is one of the few black designers expected to show a collection. A young British-Nigerian designer, Coker uses her collections to mobilize communities and create social change while highlighting black global experiences. The last Tolu Coker collection chronicled the traditional Yoruba naming ceremony using intricate hair designs and accessories to tell the story of the designer’s ancestors.
Image Source: @jasonlloydevans
UK hairdressing chain, Toni & Guy, and hair artist Efi Davies used braiding techniques to create bespoke hairpieces that acknowledged Coker’s Yoruba aunties and broader modern styles of the diaspora. Barber and artistic director Dexter Dapper oversaw the male models’ grooming, again underscoring that a clean haircut is consistent for men across the diaspora. Some of the male models sported headwear from Lucy Barlow, an esteemed British hatmaker.
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Paris Fashion Week
Wales Bonner
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Wales Bonner has been the talk of the cultural zeitgeist lately with its viral Adidas Sambas collaboration and off-duty model-esque clothing. The brainchild of Grace Wales Bonner, the brand regularly uses the fashion powerhouse’s experience as a mixed-race person in Southeast London to inform its interpretations of the black male experience. Its latest showing during Men’s Fashion Week Paris drew inspiration from 90’s fashion at Howard University.
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Nostalgic imagery from the HBCUs archives inspired Bonner to send college-style crewnecks and relaxed track pants down the runway. Beauty editor and global stylist Jawara headed Wales Bonner’s hair team. The diverse cast of models allowed a wide range of styles– a youthful look was consistent throughout the collection. Cornrows with colorful stacked beads were the most on-brand of all the styles.
Image Source: lambembika
These designers are doing the work to tell our stories throughout the diaspora. As diversity in the industry ebbs and flows, it’s important to amplify and support them consistently. London Fashion Week will commence on Feb. 16, and Milan will follow.
