The world absolutely needs your voice.
— Kerby Jean-Raymond
We need to think forward and keep making America greater. Not that old America, again.
America is a flawed land but a great one indeed.
I design for social media. My customer reads blogs, is on social media, so I design with contrast in mind. An all-black shirt looks good on the shelf but not online.
I played baseball, was on the basketball team in high school, did crew at Hofstra, and randomly played ultimate frisbee, too. But none of the organized teams I was on were anywhere near as competitive as the games on the street.
I grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. At the time I was growing up with my father - before it was gentrified - it was a very rough neighborhood. He felt that if I got into or started embracing the rap culture, I would be one step closer to being on the streets.
My earliest memories of defying my parents were through music. I remember rap being banned in my house, and then getting a Cam'ron album.
I've never seen Ralph Lauren, Rick Owens, or Raf Simons described as white designers. They are just designers.
All it took was one conversation to know that Reebok was the right home for our team.
Our first fiscal year, we were profitable.
The way I was raised, you get a new pair of sneakers when the old one gets messed up. But when I got to high school, I started dating girls and trying to fit in, and I realized everybody was collecting Jordans. When I would get my paychecks, I wouldn't even take money. I would just trade them for sneakers.
A lot of us who are creative and have all these great ideas just don't have the money to do it.
'Bernie versus Bernie,' for me, is these two extremes of capitalism. It's Bernie Sanders, the ultimate socialist, and Bernie Madoff, the ultimate capitalist.
If you put the collections together, whether it's Rick Owens, Alexander Wang, or whomever, sometimes they do streetwear, but they're never called that. They're always called 'sportswear' or 'high-end' or 'luxury.' I feel like I'm tossed into that streetwear category so that I don't exist in this space.
I want to be fashion's Erykah Badu. What I admire about her is her timelessness and her fearless approach.
I hope that people who don't believe depression is a real thing will stop calling people crazy, because that's dismissive and not a medical diagnosis.
If you're on the fence about speaking your truth or sharing your world with a greater audience, don't be. We need each other badly.
We don't need to go back in time and make America great again, because really, America was only great for certain people.
I'm desperately trying to unplug. The last thing I want is a watch that connects to my phone which connects to my iPad that connects to my computer that airplays to my TV.
My dad used to give me old electrical equipment that didn't work anymore, and I'd put things together. I think that's why I like to mix things that don't belong.
One of the things about runways that I hate is that you can't accommodate so many people because you don't have those in-and-out privileges where people can come and go.
In my shows, I always try to incorporate music because it's the most natural way to set a tone. So if I want to do a show about depression, I use the opera. If I want to do a show about greed, I use spoken word. If I want to do a show about the injustice that's taking place in the world, I might play Sam Cooke.
Financing is always the hard part, especially if you don't have friends or family to back you, which was my case and the case for most designers.
I wanted to be a sneaker designer since I was 10; it was my dream to work at Nike and design signature shoes for Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway. When it was time to select high schools, I wanted to go to one that would help me get a jump-start on my dream.
All my collections are based on something I like or something I'm dealing with. They are always deeply personal.
There were times when gangs would approach me, but my father was way stronger than them. They would come make threats and stuff, and I was like, 'You don't know the opposition I've got upstairs. I'm not scared of you.'
My dad was always so strict that I was scared to speak to him. Haitian parents are very, 'This is adults' business; this is kids' business.'
Systemically, there hasn't been an oppression more overt and long-lasting than economic oppression against black people and minorities in this country.
I came back from Standing Rock, and one of the things that struck me was their respect for elders. It was something that I felt like I needed to work on in my life.
I've always felt like an outcast. My aesthetic is very high-end, but I still get classified as streetwear. There's really no other reason for than other than my age, the way I look, and where I'm from.
You have these megabrands who make most of their money off hip-hop culture. Where were they in the time of need?
All clothes are worn on the street, but 'streetwear' had once described T-shirt brands and skate-inspired brands, and now it's just a lazy innuendo used to describe clothing made by designers that the establishment deems 'less than.'
In September of 2015, I did the unthinkable: I used my second-ever runway show to bring awareness to the Black Lives Matter movement. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do professionally. It was lonely.
A president's power is limited. We need to vote down the ballot as well, from your councilman all the way up to your governors and congressman.
If I'm going to be the black designer, I'm going to tell it my way.
We're always ready for a pick-up game. I walk through the park on the way home every day and just think to myself, 'I'll take on any of these kids.'
I was going to college on a full scholarship. I graduated summa cum laude. I was always on the dean's list. I was never a kid that started any kind of trouble.
I don't know which was the first love - music or fashion.
Is the 'black designer' label there to warn everyone not to have the same level of expectations for me, or is it some type of prize? I just want to work in an even playing field where I can get press for my work and not just my race and my personal views on it.
Think about how much fashion profits from black culture and how underrepresented we are in the industry. If you insist on using black celebrities to peddle your merchandise and add a cool factor to your front row, it is indecent to not care about the plights of that person's community.
Nobody can shut the door in your face if you own the door.
I grew up thinking my father was tacky. There was no color coordination. It was whatever was cool. 'These sweatpants are cool. I'll wear them with these shoes that are cool.' He had less inhibitions. I wasn't respectful of his swag then.
I don't think the narrative I was stuck in - the 'black' designer category - was going to go away anytime soon.
We're constantly having to go head-to-head with the Bernie Madoffs of the world who just want more and more money.
With things that I'm going through, whether they be on a small scale or a large scale, I'm thinking, 'Who else is going through this? And how can I address it and bring it to light to help someone else?'
Music has always been my first love, and I appreciate how a great musician can bring awareness to tough issues through their work.
I think that when you rally powerful voices around powerful issues, what you get are positive results.
The work of black creatives seems to always get undermined in one way or another, and that's what this new generation is actively changing by speaking up. We aren't accepting group categorization and group classifications to describe our work anymore - it just leads to group dismissal.
