Black History Month: Although black fashion designers are not as uncommon to the industry, there is certainly still much that needs to be done. As a tribute to Black History Month, which continues each year in February, follow are some of the most important black fashion designers who have reformed the industry. New York Fashion Week spotlighted a record 28 black designers in productions this season, showing a noticeable shift in industry representation—even if there’s still much further to go.
This black excellence spotlight is thanks in part to veterans such as Nike’s Heron Preston, Tia Adeola, and Carly Cushnie, while Tracy Reese is Beyoncé’s, Michelle Obama’s, and Oprah Winfrey’s go-to designer.
Influential Black Fashion Designers For Black History Month:
Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments, strength, and ingenuity of Black people who have made history in many different areas—fashion included. From redefining haute couture to transforming streetwear, Black designers have made an indelible contribution to the fashion world, merging cultural heritage with innovation. As we conclude this month of celebration, let’s take a moment to celebrate some of the most iconic Black fashion designers whose contributions continue to influence and pave the way for generations to come.
1. Carly Cushnie:
Reforming all she touches—whether it’s the runway, lifestyle, or home—with a sophisticated yet eclectic voice, Cushnie has made herself a creative leader in the worlds of fashion and design. Cushnie, who hails from London, studied at Parsons School of Design in Paris and New York and earned her BA in Fashion Design.
Best recognized for her high-end women’s Ready-to-Wear collection CUSHNIE, her artistic tailoring, and her feminine draping became a celebrity favorite dressed by numerous prominent women such as Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Zendaya, Ava Duvernay, Rihanna, and Ashley Graham.
The line was sold at high-end retailers globally, such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave, and Net-A-Porter. Carly Cushnie also expanded through partnerships with other prominent brands such as Target, Lee Denim, Carbon 38, and Summersalt.
2. Dapper Dan
The 1980s Harlem couturier went back into the limelight after a cultural appropriation controversy forced Gucci to fund the re-emergence of his label. Daniel Day, aged 78, popularly known as the iconic Dapper Dan, began as the “king of knock-offs”, according to Trill Mag. He’s currently celebrated as among the most influential people in menswear and streetwear.
New York-born Dan was a school dropout and was associated with gang activity and shoplifting. After joining a Columbia University sponsored education program, he made a trip to Africa and came back in 1974 with the newly ignited desire for fashion and opened his first 24-hour store in 1982 on a made-to-order customised model, fuelled by Dan’s frequent rounds of luxury department stores where he would purchase lots of monogrammed hardware in bulk as inventory. His career was mapped when he created fashion for hip-hop artists’ Eric B and Rakim’s cover of their 1987 “Paid in Full” album. Dan’s career was also featured as part of the MOMA’s “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” exhibition, and he appeared in AT&T’s short film documenting street style history with A$AP Rocky.
3. Christopher John Rogers
Rogers stitched his first line of work at his dining table in 2017, according to Elle. When almost 30 years old, his collections are dramatic and “pragmatic glamour” as he explained to Vogue, and refers to them as “things that are expressive and fun and invite the wearer to occupy space”. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Christopher found his creative bent from anime and comics. He graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2016, starting the CJR brand with a fusion of American pragmatism and high-octane glamour. To his credit is CFDA’s highest honor and Forbes’s 30 Under 30. Christopher’s brand focuses on emotionally resonant fashion, upholding quality and timelessness, self-empowerment.
4. Tracy Reese
59-year-old Reese established her eponymous fashion house in 1998, which has grown into several sub-brands, including Plenty, Frock! and Black Label. Renowned for its vintage-style and feminine fashion, trademark loud hues and statement prints, Reese’s fashions have been adorned by Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Sarah Jessica Parker, among others. American fashion designer Tracy Reese’s motto is straightforward: ‘to make every woman feel beautiful.’ Elegant and feminine, every one of Tracy’s figures enhances its wearer’s natural beauty, highlighting her own inherent uniqueness and charm.
In 2019, Reese debuted Hope for Flowers, a slow-fashion brand that focuses on responsible and sustainable production practices.
5. Heron Preston
Heron Preston is a contemporary Renaissance man: artist, creative director, content creator, clothing designer, and DJ. Following several high-profile collaborations, he launched his eponymous streetwear brand in 2017. His earlier collections took cues from NASA and NYC Department of Sanitation. The designer is a sustainability advocate. Formerly a creative consultant for Kanye West, Heron Preston started his own fashion brand of urban apparel and accessories.
Heron Preston is a creative director, artist and designer. He is famous for re-contextualizing images of pop culture, and designs for his own label, Heron Preston, and co-founded lifestyle brand #BEENTRILL with Virgil Abloh. Preston graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2007, and established his own brand in XXXX. In addition to operating his line, Preston has worked at Nike, and has art directed for Kanye West and Yeezy, West’s clothing line.
6. LaQuan Smith
LaQuan Smith, who was born in Queens, New York, began his company at the age of 21. Smith spent his formative years tutored by his grandmother, who taught him a love and talent for sewing and pattern making. His unique work caught the attention of fashion icons and risk takers such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Kim Kardashian, all of whom were among the early adopters of the talented designer.
Since its official launch in 2013, the brand has earned recognition for its infinite archive of individual garments and details. Smith has developed an equally diverse private-order clientèle that ranges globally from Lagos to London. Smith’s unabashedly glamorous style has also been accessed by world-known brands such as Heineken, Tidal, Samsung, Microsoft, and Verizon, for Smith led activations. LaQuan Smith, and the eponymous brand, is based and made in Long Island City, NYC and ships internationally. Having grown up in Jamaica, Queens, he certainly knew he was different from a lot of the children at my school and in my community. LaQuan always lived with such fearlessness and unapologeticalness, and though some would likely equate that with some degree of confidence, really what it came back to was the fact that I was loved incredibly deeply and without condition by his family.
7. Virgil Abloh
The designer of luxury streetwear, the creator of Off-White and former men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton, was dubbed the Karl Lagerfeld of his time. Virgil Abloh, Ghanaian-American creative director, transcended boundaries in the tradition-steeped world of fashion by bringing streetwear to the very top of the luxury market, and also became one of only a handful of Black designers to assume the creative direction of a top luxury house.
He remixed the creative director role with hip-hop’s flair for reworking, the social aspect of skateboarding and a need for social change. And he made doors open wider to a more diverse group of creatives, interacting directly with his fans, on and off line, and providing them with “cheat codes” and “trails of information” on how to start brands of their own.
Abloh passed away in November 2021 at age 41 from a private fight with cardiac angiosarcoma, an infrequent cancer. His death also elicited expressions of sorrow among industry players and close associates within the worlds of fashion, music and art.
8. Tia Adeola
Tia Adeola is a fashion designer and the founder of the luxury brand bearing her name. She’s famous for her ruffled outfits that honor her heritage. Her outfits have been sported by celebrities such as Gigi Hadid, Dua Lipa, and Sza. Having come from Nigeria to London to grow up, and now established in New York, TIA ADEOLA creator and designer Teni “Tia” Adeola earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Culture and Media in May 2019 from The New School. Tia developed the brand in her dorm room over the summer of 2017, drawing inspiration from her background in art history and love of the Renaissance era. Her intention is to retell history with fashion, specifically for individuals of colour.
9. Rihanna
Rihanna’s Fenty giant reaches as far as skincare and lingerie, but when it was announced that she would be teaming up with LVMH to form Fenty luxury maison in 2019, the excitement was fleeting. According to Forbes, the clothing line concluded in 2021, and focus was shifted towards its cosmetics and lingerie lines.
Even after closing down the brand, Rihanna became not just the first woman but the first woman of color to head a luxury fashion brand for LVMH, as uncovered by the 34-year-old Barbadian pop star herself.
