Pyer Moss (Q7592)
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founded in 2013 by Kerby Jean-Raymond
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Pyer Moss |
founded in 2013 by Kerby Jean-Raymond |
Statements
The show must go on, or so the saying goes. With his reputation for staging seemingly impossible to pull off fashion extravaganzas, Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss practically lives by this mantra. Still, mother nature had other plans on Thursday afternoon when the brand’s first couture presentation was slated to take place at the CJ Walker estate in Irvington, New York. The forecast predicted rain, but few could have anticipated the torrential downpour, the gale force winds, the thunder and lightning that battered the east coast intermittently for a period of almost 36-hours; just the kind of perfect storm youdon’twant.“It was definitely emotional, I was definitely flustered. Mostly I felt so bad for all the people who had flown in especially to be here,” said Jean-Raymond who was forced to cancel the show that day. “But I guess that’s how the universe works.”As the first African American to present on the couture calendar in the Chambre Syndicale’s 150 year plus history, Jean-Raymond was poised for a monumental moment. And it’s a testament to the support of his community that the majority of the audience waited patiently for almost three hours in the pouring rain before it was announced the event would be rescheduled. As one show-goer in the crowd remarked, “It’s like we’re on the Titanic and it’s die-hard fans only!”Many of them returned to the estate yesterday to find the clouds had parted for take two. Jean-Raymond also decided to open up the event to Pyer Moss fans; within an hour of the call-out on Instagram, over 9,000 people had signed up for one of the 100 available tickets. And so with a packed house and standing room only, the show would finally go on.As Jean-Raymond tells it, the concept itself was crystalized in an ayahuasca-induced reverie. “We did the ceremony as a team out in Joshua Tree back in March,” he explained. “And that same morning we’d had a call with Kering when the discussion about applying to be on the haute couture schedule came up.” Little over a month later, with his application in, Jean-Raymond set about working on the collection, a tribute to 25 Black inventions drawn from an extensive list at the Library of Congress. To bring the ambitious concept to life, he set up camp temporarily in a spacious studio in Westlake, Los Angeles, enlisting the help of Hollywood fabricators and costume designers. “I didn’t want to do this like a regular collection, I wanted to do this like Sesame Street and Pixar,” he said.
11 July 2021
It has been a year since Pyer Moss invited Fashion Week to Weeksville, the historic black neighborhood in Brooklyn. The second installment in “American, Also,” a three-part series of collections addressing the erasure of African American narratives in popular culture, the moving show was hailed as one of the best of the season and positioned the brand squarely in the New York spotlight. So when designer Kerby Jean-Raymond decided to go on hiatus last season, shortly after winning the CFDA/VogueFashion Fund award, many wondered if he could keep the momentum going.With the Pyer Moss name in bright lights at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn last night, Jean-Raymond was ready to turn the volume up in a major way. The endless lines of people outside the venue—a combination of industry insiders, celebrities, and those fans who were lucky enough to score one of 500 free tickets—gave some indication of the scale and ambition of the project. Walking onto the scene, it was easy to imagine the production costs running well into the hundreds of thousands, which they did to the tune of around $400,000. Puzzled passersby on Flatbush Avenue all seemed to be asking themselves the same question: What kind of performer draws a sold-out crowd at this 3,000-person-capacity venue on a Sunday night?Entitled “Sister,” the third and final chapter in the Pyer Moss trilogy paid homage to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. A singer-songwriter who rose to popularity in the 1930s and ’40s, Tharpe is widely considered to be the godmother of rock and roll, though her legacy has been grossly diminished in music’s history book. “I think relatively few people know that the sound of rock and roll was invented by a queer black woman in a church,” said Jean-Raymond backstage, moments after the show. “I wanted to explore what that aesthetic might have looked like if her story would have been told.”Beyond being places of worship, churches have long served as safe spaces for black communities across America, though you could just as easily add nightclubs and dance halls to that list. No matter what form it takes, the notion of creative refuge and freedom of expression has become more vital than ever for people of color in the tumult of Donald Trump’s presidency. Delivered by writer Casey Gerald, who is known for his incisive social commentary, the sermon that opened the show was both uplifting and unapologetically political. “Four hundred years have passed since they brought our people to this land . . .
and I’ve come here to say you can’t hurt us no more,” said Gerald in reference to the anniversary of slavery in America. “They knew that no matter how their master treated them, no matter how the world treated them, they had freedom on the inside that the world could not take away . . . . And we are here tonight to claim our wings.”
9 September 2019
Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss isn’t the first designer to decamp to Brooklyn—Eckhaus Latta have been showing in trendy Bushwick for the past few seasons—but he might be the first to bring Fashion Week to Weeksville.The neighborhoodhas a particularly rich and special history. Founded by James Weeks, an African-American man, in 1838, little over a decade after slavery was abolished in New York, it became one of the country’s first free-black communities. The Pyer Moss show took place in the grounds of the Weeksville Heritage Center, where four extant houses formed the backdrop. Moments before the lights when up on the runway, a gospel choir dressed in all white lined up on the grassy lawn. The resulting tableau was like something out of a Kerry James Marshall painting, conjuring serenity and joy despite the heavy gray rain clouds overhead.Jean-Raymond had been pondering the current landscape of African-American life while making of this collection. He came across a copy of theThe Negro Motorist Green Bookin his research, a guidebook first published in the 1930s that served as a tool for black travelers in Jim Crow–era America, signposting restaurants and hotels that were relative safe zones from discrimination and establishments to avoid. “It got me starting to imagine what the African-American experience would look like without the constant threat of racism,” said the designer. He enlisted rising art star Derrick Adams to help bring his vision to life, commissioning 10 paintings that were woven throughout the collection. There was a painterly image of a young black man grilling burgers printed on a simple white T-shirt, and a black page boy and flower girl at a wedding on an oversize silk shirt. Easily the most touching portrait in the bunch, and perhaps the most exquisite piece in the collection overall, was a black father lovingly cradling his baby, rendered in glittering beads on a shift dress. “Just black people doing normal things,” was how Jean-Raymond put it.In a moment when even the most ordinary aspects of black life seem under constant threat—when a black man or woman innocently barbecuing in their own backyard has been known to elicit an armed police response—these clothes presented a radical counterpoint to a narrative of sensationalism and tragedy porn, speaking volumes more than a political slogan tee.
Jean-Raymond is as committed to reclaiming the legacy of the black and brown designers who came before him as he is to making a name for himself. Last season it was Cross Colours. This season, 1990s streetwear label FUBU, or For Us By Us, partnered on a capsule. “We wanted to highlight designers that weren’t seen,” said Jean-Raymond. “These companies grossed hundreds of millions in their prime, but weren’t recognized in the same way that brands like Donna Karan were because they were considered urban, not fashion.”Jean-Raymond unveiled his first collection for Reebok last season, and the partnership has been pivotal to his brand’s expansion—many of his former interns are now full-time paid members of his team. The new white and pink quilted sneaker booties he’s created for the second installment of the Reebok partnership are likely to take his business another step forward, too; ditto the graphic ponchos and tracksuits. All in all, cause for celebration—in this case, a friends and family cookout in the backyard of the clapboard Weeksville homes that took place immediately after the show. Just black people doing normal things.
9 September 2018
Some might say that political slogan tees were a necessary response to the Trump era. But as the dust settles on the current state of the nation, that kind of knee-jerk reaction appears somewhat superficial on the runway now. Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond has never shied away from mixing activism with fashion. Long before Trump was sworn into office, the Brooklyn-born designer shook up New York Fashion Week by screening a 15-minute video about police brutality and the black community at his Fall 2015 show. (He received death threats from the KKK as a result.) This season, he used music to imbue his clothing with a meaningful and uplifting message. With the help of legendary singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq, he assembled a gospel choir to sing uplifting anthems of black empowerment, including Kendrick Lamar’s rousing anthem “Alright,” which has been associated with the Black Lives Matter movement since 2015.The collection itself took inspiration from a lesser-known chapter in American history—the black cowboys of the 19th century, including one of the first rodeo stars of the era, Bill Pickett. Archive images of Pickett and his cohorts helped inform the Western leanings of the new clothes, including patchwork leather jackets, suiting finished with a zigzag pattern of contrast stitching, and baggy pants with accordion pleating that looked like chaps. Jean-Raymond introduced womenswear for the first time today, though the proportions tended to be interchangeable for the most part. The rugged white shearling worn by one female model over a slinky satin dress would have worked just as well on one of the guys, for example. (On the topic of shearling jackets, singer Kehlani looked pretty cool on the front row in a yellow version from last season’s men’s collection.) Jean-Raymond tipped his hat to the legacy of streetwear with a Western shirt embroidered with the Cross Colours logo. The cult black-owned brand made racial unity its primary focus back in the ’90s, launching under the rallying cry “clothes without prejudice,” a mission statement that feels particularly relevant today. If there is one collaboration the world could use right now, this might be it. Jean-Raymond confirmed backstage that plans for a bigger project with Cross Colours founder Carl Jones were in the pipeline.The show did close with another important partnership: a Pyer Moss collection for Reebok.
Jean-Raymond deconstructed the star-spangled banner across basketball shorts, track jackets, and oversize scarves. His fashion-forward trainers were a nice evolution of the Reebok classic shoe, perhaps the brand’s most recognizable style, and could easily hold their own in the current league of coveted fashion sneakers by Adidas and Nike. The athletic giant would be wise to sign this young designer up for a second season.Diversity has been an ongoing discussion on when it comes to the models on the runway, but little has been done to address the fact that black people are hugely underrepresented behind the scenes. In fact, it’s tough to name more than a handful of black designers who have been at the helm of a major fashion house. The fact that a young talented black man like Jean-Raymond is successfully building a fashion brand on his own terms is perhaps the most powerful and positive message of all.
11 February 2018
Some might say that political slogan tees were a necessary response to the Trump era. But as the dust settles on the current state of the nation, that kind of knee-jerk reaction appears somewhat superficial on the runway now. Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond has never shied away from mixing activism with fashion. Long before Trump was sworn into office, the Brooklyn-born designer shook up New York Fashion Week by screening a 15-minute video about police brutality and the black community at his Fall 2015 show. (He received death threats from the KKK as a result.) This season, he used music to imbue his clothing with a meaningful and uplifting message. With the help of legendary singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq, he assembled a gospel choir to sing uplifting anthems of black empowerment, including Kendrick Lamar’s rousing anthem “Alright,” which has been associated with the Black Lives Matter movement since 2015.The collection itself took inspiration from a lesser-known chapter in American history—the black cowboys of the 19th century, including one of the first rodeo stars of the era, Bill Pickett. Archive images of Pickett and his cohorts helped inform the Western leanings of the new clothes, including patchwork leather jackets, suiting finished with a zigzag pattern of contrast stitching, and baggy pants with accordion pleating looked like chaps. Jean-Raymond introduced womenswear for the first time today, though the proportions tended to be interchangeable for the most part. The rugged white shearling worn by one female model over a slinky satin dress would have worked just as well on one of the guys, for example. (On the topic of shearling jackets, singer Kehlani looked pretty cool on the front row in a yellow version from last season’s men’s collection.) Jean-Raymond tipped his hat to the legacy of streetwear with a Western shirt embroidered with the Cross Colours logo. The cult black-owned brand made racial unity its primary focus back in the ’90s, launching under the rallying cry “clothes without prejudice,” a mission statement that feels particularly relevant today. If there is one collaboration the world could use right now, this might be it. Jean-Raymond confirmed backstage that plans for a bigger project with Cross Colours founder Carl Jones were in the pipeline.The show did close with another important partnership: a Pyer Moss collection for Reebok.
Jean-Raymond deconstructed the star-spangled banner across basketball shorts, track jackets, and oversize scarves. His fashion-forward trainers were a nice evolution of the Reebok classic shoe, perhaps the brand’s most recognizable style, and could easily hold their own in the current league of coveted fashion sneakers by Adidas and Nike. The athletic giant would be wise to sign this young designer up for a second season.Diversity has been an ongoing discussion on when it comes to the models on the runway, but little has been done to address the fact that black people are hugely underrepresented behind the scenes. In fact, it’s tough to name more than a handful of black designers who have been at the helm of a major fashion house. The fact that a young talented black man like Jean-Raymond is successfully building a fashion brand on his own terms is perhaps the most powerful and positive message of all.
11 February 2018
Pyer Moss’s Kerby Jean-Raymond came out to address the crowd before his Fall show. “This is part one of a collection I am making. It’s called ‘Stories About My Parents.’ This one is for my father—where is he? I forget what you look like sometimes.” On each seat was a Xeroxed pamphlet that had handwritten notes about his Dad: “Student in Haiti. NYC taxi driver. Wins lotto.” And more.While Jean-Raymond’s intentions were good—familial inspiration can often be profound—his execution left a fair amount to be desired. The fit was off in parts (jackets just didn’t seem to fall quite right), and his variance was too wide. (Granted, doing a collection based on a life arc from East Flatbush immigrant to electronics shop–owning Bob Marley–obsessive is no small feat.) Menswear and womenswear—unisex, for the most part—rambled from a T-shirt that read “Nothing To Say” to a jewel tone–blocked tracksuit to a Yeti coat, all with a kind of derivative street lean, the sort of Vetements-ian ping back that has become all too common on catwalks the world over. That, along with a moribund pace (a tough sell for a 9:00 p.m. show that started nearly forty minutes late), didn’t help matters, despite Jean-Raymond’s altruism.Speaking of that, this designer also mentioned that he went to Standing Rock, presumably to protest, and he showed shoes with “Wet Foot, Dry Foot,” the policy recently reversed by Obama that essentially allowed Cuban immigrants to stay in the United States if they reached American ground, Sharpie’d on the toes. The takeaway: Jean-Raymond has potential, but he needs to focus, and think more about the sartorial as opposed to the causal message.
15 February 2017
Patrick Bateman, Gordon Gecko, Bernie Madoff—all American psychos in their own right, whether fictional or real. It was those men Kerby Jean-Raymond turned an eye to with Pyer Moss’s Spring outing (the show notes even dubbed it a “collaboration” with Donald Trump and Madoff). After a barnstorming Fall show and plenty of press, Raymond and his team had a fair bit to live up to, if not surpass, with today’s lineup; and they did.A chorus of sopranos seated before cash registers burst into song before a goosebump-inducing performance by Cyrus Aaron and Austin Millz, as the former took to task institutionalized oppression in a piece which felt particularly resonant on the heels of a hot, bloody summer marked by the deaths of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, and others. Aaron’s piece set the tenor for a show about privilege and power, about those, so often predatory, few who’ve got the upper-hand in the world (Jean-Raymond also name-checked Jack Nicholson in Chinatown and Michael Douglas inFalling Down). The integration of performance and showing clothes was a remarkably seamless one; when asked about marrying the two, the designer responded: “I do what’s honest for me. Sometimes it comes out good, sometimes it comes out bad, but who gives a shit?”Here it was undeniably good. Clothes were characterized by familiar motifs of wealth, the kind of things used in a movie to telegraph to us that someone is a banker before we've ever heard him speak: pinstripes, cufflinks, double-breasted suit jackets. Those codes were reworked and restyled to an offhanded, sporty effect. Twill trousers came shown with Perfecto-style toppers tucked into them, and the handful of graphics felt nicely purposeful; one satin coach’s jacket which read Please Speak Only toMy Attorneywas a particular highlight.Elsewhere, big, bootleg gold watches were worn over shirt sleeves, and models sported terrific footwear byYeezyshoe guru Salehe Bembury. Nikes and Doc Marten oxfords came dipped in a shroud of thick, sky blue silicone, trimmed roughly around the outer edges of the sole. Those served as a potent metaphor for anchors “that we all face in life,” Bembury offered, “whether financial or otherwise, that bog us down.” While as of now there are no plans to produce the pieces, it was no less easy to imagine them having a life in retail; Bembury himself pointed to the footwear market’s recent predilections for larger outsoles.More than just a condemnation of men like Madoff and co.
, Jean-Raymond’s visceral show today served as a very wearable way to thumb a nose at their kind; he even went so far as to print an image of Madoff in the midst of his arrest atop a pin-striped shirt. How many of us are willing to wear a button-down bearing the likeness of Bernie, even ironically? That’s up for debate, but Jean-Raymond’s case, and his latest collection, were both compelling.
12 September 2016
Acid. Booze. Molly. LSD.So read the buttons affixed to the commander caps at Pyer Moss’s Fall 2016 presentation. Look farther down and you’ll find other messages on the clothing.You don’t have any friends in LAproclaims a tongue-in-cheek memo printed on sweatshirts and bomber jackets; another listed symptoms of depression. The show closed with a model carrying a poster statingMy demons won today I’m sorry, the final message of Black Lives Matter activist MarShawn McCarrel, who committed suicide earlier this month.If this all sounds like a dark mood, it’s meant to. Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond likes to tackle heavy themes in his work. Last season he staged a call to action for the Black Lives Matter movement, and today he was focusing on depression, both personal and cultural. Erykah Badu helped style the collection—the hats and buttons were her idea—and the line riffed on the things that keep us down, set to the sounds of a choir singing Future’s “Trap Niggas” and the Black National Anthem.For good reason, Jean-Raymond’s activism has been all his supporters can talk about, but his clothes are really quite good, too. This show offered up streamlined takes on menswear staples like jogger pants and shearling outerwear, but the real heroes of the collection were the items in which the designer pushed the envelope just left of center. A collaboration with Baltimore-based artist Maurice Scarlett birthed cooler-than-normal printed sweatshirts, while a windowpane check coat was as good as, if not better than, any seen at big-name men’s shows this season. Though there were several women’s looks peppered in, it would serve the label better to show during New York Fashion Week: Men’s, where its target audience will pay closer mind to the considered construction and fit.
17 February 2016