Antoine Gregory has never been afraid to criticize the fashion industry.
The stylist’s candid and incisive Twitter commentary on the state of the fashion industry, fashion presentations, collaborations with designers and the shifting media landscape has helped propel his elusive Twitter account @bibbygregory into one of the social media site’s leading industry voices.Especially when it comes to issues of diversityIn the fashion world, or lack thereof.
After years of being one of the few Black people in the room and on set, Gregory was inspired to create and produce Black Fashion Fair, an immersive online platform where Black fashion designers are championed, celebrated and centered. The website serves as an online database where Black designers are listed in A-Z order and a virtual marketplace with a premium curation of the most exciting Black designers in fashion. 15% of sales made through Black Fashion Fair will be given back to the Black fashion community through initiatives such as upcoming student programs and a budget to produce Black-centric editorials and fashion stories that will be published on the platform.
“idea [of Black Fashion Fair] “It started popping up in 2015,” Gregory told BAZAAR.com. “When I Start a Twitter thread We were talking about the lack of representation of Black designers on the New York fashion calendar and it just went from there. In 2018, I started figuring out what I actually wanted to do with that idea.
“I graduated from FIT and there were only two other black people in my major. And because I’ve always worked in the luxury fashion industry, I never saw anyone like me around. I was often the only black person in some of the companies I worked for. What I noticed was that at every level, there was a lack of black people.”
“The only real way to create meaningful change, any kind of change, is to have representation at every level,” Gregory added, “I think what I wanted with the Black Fashion Fair was to bring visibility to the different types of people and different roles that are represented within the industry.”
Black Fashion Fair’s online domain is a portal to showcase Black excellence. On the homepage, viewers are greeted with stunning editorial photography featuring jewel-toned pieces from Pear Moss’ Spring/Summer 2020 collection, while a click away to the designer directory instantly introduces dozens of Black designers the industry has long overlooked. Emerging names like Telfar Clemens, Tia Adeola, and Mowalola Ogunlesi are just a handful of designers featured on the platform.
Gregory purposefully categorized his selection of black designers by their real names, rather than the names of the brands they run, to emphasize that fashion industry insiders should be able to name designers like Aurora James, Kerby Jean-Raymond, and Anifa Mvemba as easily as they can remember the respective brands of Brother Vellies, Pierre Moss, and Hanifa.
“Just a few days ago, I heard people calling Kerby Jean-Raymond Pyer Moss. It’s not his name, it’s the brand, and he is a person. I think it happens all the time where black people aren’t known by name, or their contributions to the industry and fashion aren’t known. I really don’t want to live in a situation where black people live in the shadows of the industry,” Gregory said. “They’re going to erase us from history and make sure black designers’ names and contributions aren’t known. That doesn’t happen to white designers, it doesn’t happen to Riccardo Tisci or Kim Jones, or lesser known designers and fashion houses. We deserve the same respect.”
Ahmad Barber + Donté Maurice of ABDM Studio
While representation is often seen as a shallow, one-size-fits-all solution to the massive impact of systemic racism in the corporate world, the concept itself remains influential. For Gregory, creating a dynamic platform that highlights Black talent in fashion serves a bigger purpose than simply providing a roster of people the industry at large ignores. Black Fashion Fair shows younger generations that there are people who look like them, who come from the same place they are, and who they can see their talents recognized and thrive in the fashion world.
“People don’t know that Ann Lowe designed Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress, but that dress is a part of American history that she didn’t get credit for during her lifetime. Or the fact that Stephen Burroughs helped America win the Battle of Versailles, but without a black designer and a black model, we might not have won,” Gregory continues.
These little things that people don’t know about get erased from the story. What does this mean for the future of fashion?”
“They’re erasing us from history so that Black designers’ names and their contributions will never be known.”
For Gregory, the Black Fashion Fair also represents the power of the black community. For a long time, there has been a bias within the industry that has discouraged black designers from dressing black celebrities. It’s an outdated and unconsciously racist idea that the only way to define a successful designer is to dress white celebrities and public figures.
“Black designers are not as close to black artists. There was a time when black designers did not want to be automatically represented as a ‘black’ brand, and I think many black designers are reluctant to be categorized that way,” Gregory says. “For black celebrities, it was normal to have close ties to European designers. More upscale, more high-end brands were considered ‘more interesting.’ The idea was, ‘If I can be associated with a luxury brand, it only increases my status.’ I think recently black designers and black celebrities have realized that there is value in community and support through fashion. Now we want to see more collaboration between black buyers, black celebrities, and black luxury goods.”
While the current coronavirus pandemic has changed how we view and consume fashion, Gregory plans to turn the Black Fashion Fair into a fully immersive experience once it’s safe. In its ultimate form, he hopes the platform will be utilized as an educational space to inspire the next generation of fashion creators. Additionally, he hopes that emerging designers will receive the attention they deserve, with the focus not on the designer’s cause for fame, but on the integrity of their talent and who they have the potential to become.
“I think there will definitely be a Black Fashion Fair exhibition, and we’ll have exhibits and talks to show how we can help Black designers stay in business, and have fun doing it. Classes for students will teach them the technical parts of design that they might not have the opportunity to learn in school, or if they’re not being taught by industry professionals,” Gregory explains. “It’s about giving them the same access as any other designer.”
Even in a year in which fashion’s influence and importance has been heavily debated due to the coronavirus, the economic situation, and of course the ongoing racial justice issues in the US, Gregory is confident that fashion will regain its footing, this time with diversity and inclusivity at the forefront.
“People should continue to be interested in fashion because fashion tells stories. There will always be stories to be told, there will always be a young person in the middle of the Midwest looking at a magazine, there will always be an editorial that inspires them,” Gregory said. “Fashion will always be inspiring. Fashion has always been a sign of an era, an expression, how people see themselves, and it always will be that way. That will never change,” Gregory added. “And that will always be important.”
Bianca Betancourt is the culture editor for HarpersBAZAAR.com, covering all things film, TV, and music. When she’s not writing, she loves compulsively baking cookies, listening to early 2000s pop music playlists on repeat, and sneakily checking Mariah Carey’s Twitter feed.
