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The collection had silhouettes and motifs inspired by Sister Rosetta, including a number of pieces featuring Phillips’s painting of Tharpe, such as a denim print made by Resonance, a New York-based company that can print denim without the tens of thousands of gallons of water usually used in the process. The menswear silhouette, he said, is what he really feels he’s perfected for this season: “a very triangular upper, wide leg, slight bell, high waist. It’s a very modern version of a zoot suit.” He still feels his menswear is in a better place than his women’s. “I wouldn’t say this is the season we’ll nail it for women,” he said, “but definitely by next season.”
The next night at Kings Theatre was absolute chaos—like the wild scene in the studio times 1,000. It was nearly impossible to get in, the show started almost 90 minutes late, and a number of people were assigned duplicate seats. And then Jean-Raymond pulled it all off. Quavo, Saweetie, Joey Badass, Kehlani, Justine Skye, Slick Woods were in the front row; Kitty Cash had to squeeze herself into the second. The choir—“The Pyer Moss Tabernacle Drip Choir Drenched in The Blood”—was bigger than ever and sang a mix of gospel, Missy Elliott, and Cardi B. People cheered for the clothing, which doesn’t happen at Fashion Week. A number of attendees were in tears by the show’s end. A collaboration with Puff Daddy’s Sean John created an instant buzz both in the room and for those watching online. Puff “reached out after I won a CFDA award,” Jean-Raymond had told me Saturday, “and was like ‘Keep doing your thing king. I’m proud of you, king.’ And I was like, That’s it! Let’s do Sean John.”
Those collaborations have been a part of this three-chapter narrative, called America, Also—he worked with Cross Colours on Collection 1 (Fall 2018), and Fubu on Collection 2 (Spring 2019). But this collection would be the last one in the series. “Fubu, Cross Colours, and Sean John fit with America, Also because it’s all about reteaching yourself, and reversing a racial lesson in the first place,” he said, “Now when we move into the next thesis, for Collection 4, we have to see what brands make sense with that.”
If Collection 3 was the final piece in an exploration of what black designers might do if they had the resources, power, and marketing mystique typical of white-owned fashion brands, the next phase will be about relaxing into this new power, “to reach down, or reach vertical, instead of reaching back.” He told me the name of the next chapter. But he asked me not to print it—he jokes that he doesn’t want that guy, the one who doesn’t need to be named, to steal it.
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