The pulse of black fashion beats vibrantly through Pyer Moss, led by trailblazer Kerby Jean-Raymond. This art project continually challenges norms and redefines narratives, remaining more of a social experiment than a conventional fashion label. The brand celebrated its 10th-anniversary with a "loot-out" sale for fans, almost a year after The Cut’s exposé questioned its promises.

The Cut's article on Jean-Raymond is a paradox. While it presented a bittersweet opportunity to delve into the world of a Haitian designer reshaping the industry and facing numerous challenges, it also shed light on the burden borne by black designers to represent an entire community, making many attacks on the autonomy in the black creative process.

Respecting Tahirah Hairston’s talent and time, it’s critical to recognize the author lacks a comprehensive understanding of the business, emotional, and financial burdens black designers face in navigating the fashion industry. Although many consumers and those in the industry felt the article represented their views on the brand and Kerby, many black designers and others felt the publication was doing more harm than good. Without arguing that the Couture show was considered a blunder, many perceived Kerby’s “disappearance” as a moment of needed introspection and a shift of focus to ‘Your Friends in New York.’

The article opens by providing a backdrop to how, in 2015, designer Kerby Jean-Raymond shocked the fashion world with his Pyer Moss runway show, featuring a film on police brutality. Front-row seats were given to victims' families, and symbolic garments made a powerful statement. Despite backlash, the show elevated Jean-Raymond's profile, highlighting a significant moment where fashion engaged with urgent social and political issues.

The article then makes clear whose expectations were disappointed: those who look to box Pyer Moss in as a fashion failure. As Robin Givhan said, “Jean-Raymond has failed to play by fashion’s most basic rules: provoke, yes, but use the attention to make and sell clothing.” Unlike in fashion, artists and art collectors consider failure something to embrace as part of the journey. As an art project, its uniqueness, irreplaceability, and originality make it of high intrinsic value. Outside of the Reebok deal, Kerby made no mention of interest publicly in mass production. Pyer Moss has always been sold and available in limited quantities.

There is a need for a deeper exploration of the business realities of keeping up with the relentless pace of the fashion industry. Many designers are grappling with the challenges of maintaining relevance, high quality, production costs, and eco-consciousness, especially emerging and non-disciplined designers. At the height of the pandemic, many designers spoke on the need for change in the industry and took time from showing collections. The Cut missed an opportunity to dive into the cultural, emotional, and artistic aspects that shape designers and their journey in the industry.

Exploring Kerby’s family history, The Cut grazes over Kerby’s father’s own struggles for identity and cultural mobility, and while grappling with mourning the loss of his homeland and lover. Like 15% of Haitians between 1957 and 1986, Kerby’s parents left Haiti to escape the Duvalier dictatorship dynasty. For many, this is the first learning of the trauma and abuse Kerby both experienced and inherited. Kerby, only a degree of separation from the remnants of murder and displacement from Papa and Baby Doc’s rule on the island, lived a life of neglect and loss without a mother figure, likely still navigating the impacts of his experiences in adulthood.

From previous collaborators and scorned laid-off employees, we get an intimate look at Kerby leading up to and following the ‘22 Couture show. The insecurity, the doubt, the uncertainty, the humanity. Amid creative changes, he parted ways with mostly everyone. Despite layoffs being unfavorable, there is no formula and handbook to owning a business and facing challenges. It’s not like the fashion councils and conglomerates offer financial literacy for designers. Regardless of whether Kerby’s social circle or car was meant to insinuate he was negligent with the brand's investment or question whether he earned the money he spent, it is still unclear why it was necessary to highlight his blossomed lifestyle.

Despite setting social media abuzz, some voiced their concern that those in power would use Kerby as a reason not to give deserving and prepared black designers the opportunity. Some behind the scenes felt Lindsay and Tahirah, who amidst their move to The Cut abandoned their Teen Vogue incubator, Generation Next Class of 2020, were criticizing from an unfair sense of justice. Others advocated that the fashion industry had put Kerby in a glass-floor position amid the pressures to appear more inclusive. The backlash drew the attention of even Lindsay Peoples Wagner, The Cut's editor-in-chief, after some questioned whether it was an orchestrated hit.

On and off the runway, there is a disconnect between the fashion industry and the deep exploration of blackness rooted in culture and religion, where social commentary focuses on popular culture rather than embracing cultural exchange. It calls into question how we humanize and criticize designers with care. Is it possible to write in ways that foster growth without diminishing and calling into question contributions?

Black fashion writers have an opportunity to not only criticize their peers but also challenge the perceived status quo, creating a space for constructive critique with a more inclusive approach to evaluating designers based on cultural nuances that often elude mainstream critics. We’ve seen the fashion industry often fail to capture the role of emotion in black experimentation, thus leaning toward disappointment when black designers aren’t exploiting themselves for the greater good.

Kerby's journey, though complex, emerges as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of black designers. His contributions have reshaped the narratives around luxury fashion, and we can only hope that he and Kering have silently continued the mission of 'Your Friends in New York' to empower the next generation of innovators.