Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.'

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

All my collections are based on something I like or something I'm dealing with. They are always deeply personal.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

I think that when you rally powerful voices around powerful issues, what you get are positive results.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

Nobody can shut the door in your face if you own the door.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

If I'm going to be the black designer, I'm going to tell it my way.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

You have these megabrands who make most of their money off hip-hop culture. Where were they in the time of need?

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.'

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.'

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

Systemically, there hasn't been an oppression more overt and long-lasting than economic oppression against black people and minorities in this country.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

The world absolutely needs your voice.

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.'

Kerby Jean-Raymond
Kerby Jean-Raymond

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.