Black excellence was on full display this weekend as Kerby Jean-Raymond, the first Black American designer to present at Paris Haute Couture Week, showcased the  Pyer Moss Fall 2021 Couture Collection at the estate of the late Madam C.J. Walker.

AfroTech was invited to the Villa Lewaro to witness this historic event and it was nothing short of breathtaking. The ambiance was set from the minute guests arrived. With an all-Black live band decked out in all-white attire, it was as if you walked into a Harlem Renaissance party set in the digital age. However, the most jaw-dropping moment of all was the fashion.

 

The Pyer Moss Fall Couture Show paid homage to Black inventors in the most ingenious way.  As the show began, models were met with gasps and awe as they walked the runway outfitted in garments resembling peanut butter (George Washington Carver), a traffic light (Garrett Morgan, 1923), a mop (Thomas W. Steward, 1863), a hot comb (Madam C.J. Walker), a Super Soaker (Lonnie Johnson),  portable air conditioner (Frederick Jones, 1938), a cell phone (Henry T. Sampson, 1971), and head to toe hair rollers.

 

 

A popular piece, which garnered a massive reaction from the crowd and online, was the white refrigerator featuring colorful letter magnets, reminiscent of the refrigerators found in most Black family homes. In the front read the phrase: “But who invented Black trauma?”

Well done by Kerby and the Pyer Moss team!