The roster of popular fashion designers appears more diverse than ever, but the success of Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow of Public School, Shayne Oliver of Hood By Air, and Virgil Abloh of Off-White mask startling statistics. According to The New York Times, only 2.7 percent of the 260 shows put on during New York Fashion Week were from African-American designers.
Kerby Jean-Raymond is among that select group. The 28-year-old Haitian-American from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, is the founder and creative director of the luxury sportswear brand Pyer Moss (pronounced “Pierre Moss”). Last year, the label, which he launched in 2013, put out the viral “They Have Names” T-shirt, featuring the names of black men slain by police officers emblazoned on the back.
