WATCH: Your Blueprint For Inspiration: Meet Black Designers Shaping The Future Of Fashion

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McDonald’s has partnered with five rising Black designers and industry insiders to help change more than clothes.

Transcript

00:00I never really thought of it being even being a career or anything like that. I just genuinely

00:11just wanted to create stuff. I'd say I was inspired first by my grandparents. My grandma

00:16would be crocheting like scarves or blankets and all type of stuff. What keeps me going is the

00:22promise I gave myself to be an example of black luxury. What inspired me is just the lack of

00:33long pants.

00:52The showroom I worked with in order to get into retailers told me that it would be more difficult

01:02for me to be picked up if they knew that I was a black-owned brand or if I presented myself as too

01:08urban. It's safe to say I left that showroom and I think that's another part of like you know just

01:17your story like learning to find your voice and stand tall in that space.

01:26I am Nigerian. Nigerian means we're never in last place. So just that in itself like

01:34kind of gives you an idea of like our strength of perseverance.

01:39And my dad's Austrian yeah let's not count him out. Copy.

01:42Coming up in Richmond, Virginia at the time creating your own clothes that was considered

01:47too feminine. A lot of people didn't understand. So I learned how to sew through my father. For him

01:56like he used to you know sew his work pants to fit better. Like it wasn't creativity. It wasn't like

02:03I mean I guess like you can say it was creative but like at the same time it was like it was more

02:07I mean I guess like you can say it was creative but like at the same time it was like it was more

02:11just structured to tailor to fit for his job. That's kind of where I sat and learned how to do

02:16it. Sometimes he'd get too tired coming home late from work and I just do it for him. This is

02:25definitely not your average button-up. I mean it has different ways of tightening up around your

02:32waist or your chest. Rock. Kiss. Vibes. I wanted to fit in with the cool kids. I would you know

02:39design things from out of my closet or upcycle things from out of my closet and then over time

02:45it just kind of grew its own legs. Everything started back in my hometown in New Orleans.

02:56My grandmother would after school she'll bring me to like thrift stores and stuff and at first I

03:01thought it was like boring. I used to stay in the car and eventually I started going in

03:05finding cool pieces of cool jeans that I thought like I could use as a base. Made some pants that

03:10I really wanted and I pretty much started wearing the stuff that I was making. Everyone would be

03:15like where you get that? I want some. Can I buy them off for you? What size are those?

03:20And that's pretty much how like my making clothes journey started.

03:26We moved around a lot. It was literally just me and my mom. We landed in Brooklyn because that's

03:33where her sister was. I didn't really expect to be here that long and I would ask her why are we

03:37leaving because it was very hard for me to make friends just having you know an accent and just

03:43feeling out of place. The only way that I saw myself bridging that gap was like through my style

03:49and in the pieces that I would wear regardless of it being from like Goodwill. Having like a

03:54sense of style gave me confidence especially being an only child and not being from here and

03:58not feeling like you fit in anywhere. Getting that acceptance for what you're doing or what

04:02you have on. I just really wanted more of that. Stand clear of the closing doors please.

04:15Well I've always had a love for denim. Ever since even when I was like four I was wearing like

04:19Canadian tuxedos. I'm from Brooklyn, New York. New York you're, you know, you know the vibes, you know.

04:28Denim has always stuck with me. What kind of invited me into like distressing it and like

04:34making it what it is now. I just love other worldly things and I feel like in the world

04:40you normally see a lot of clothes with like you know perfect seams, perfect lines and I was like

04:45you know everything can't be perfect and even if it isn't perfect it's still beautiful.

04:56The concept of creating a piece a lot of times it can come from chaos. It can be a lot of fabrics

05:04and a lot of different embellishments in front of me and I kind of just deep dive into that.

05:09When I design it's really just me. I let my phone die and I really don't speak to anybody because

05:16it helps. And I just start grabbing fabrics, start working with one fabric, throw it to the side like

05:20nah it's not what I thought, you know. Grab the next one, sketch something out. It's just you,

05:26the four walls and your talent. I have a cat so it's actually me and my cat. It's not just me.

05:31It's me and my cat chicken and she watches me sew for hours and just make magic.

05:37It's designing out of love, you design out of sorrow. Finding a way to express yourself when

05:41you feel misunderstood or you feel out of place has definitely translated into me being a designer

05:47and I find that we do that, like all artists do that. That's the reason why we create art.

05:55Hey girl what you doing in Mexico City?

05:59I am working on samples for the next collection. We're trying to have 60 SKUs which is definitely

06:06the biggest collection I've ever done. That's huge. The five change of fashion designers including

06:12myself and Nia have a group chat in which we come in there for questions, support,

06:19outrage. And the best part about it is that there's no ego and we're all hilarious. And I

06:26want to take credit for starting the group chat and naming it. Period. It's going to be exciting

06:34watching everyone grow and tap into each other. I can't wait to see what we all accomplish in

06:4010 years, where we're going to be at, where our companies are going to be at, how we

06:44evolve because I'm always rooting for all of us. It's a blessing to even meet those designers

06:50and I thank McDonald's and we are golden for the opportunity also. Because at the end of the day

06:55these platforms that McDonald's has enabled us to be a part of, you have to really

07:01speak from your heart and let people understand who you are and where you came from.

07:07The fact that we are so underrepresented especially in the fashion industry when most

07:13of our ideas are being used right now on runways, you know, they take from us and they don't,

07:20they put it out there and they don't even give us the credits. Don't be afraid to pull out of

07:25things that aren't serving you. Know your power, your powers and your talent. Find the team in the

07:32community that's going to support you along the way because it's nearly impossible to do it by

07:36yourself. The fashion family is definitely like stylists, other designers, photographers, models.

07:41They definitely want to be involved, want to see a brand grow because if the brand grows then

07:46everyone else around it grows. Got a great therapist and a great accountant and a good lawyer.

07:55We are the people.

08:25you

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