Hollywood, CA – March 3rd, 2022 – The NAACP Image Awards fashion event was held on Friday, February 25, 2022, in Los Angeles, California, at The Hollywood Roosevelt. The fashion event was curated by designer to the stars Kevan Hall who was honored at the event for his work with the Black Design Collective. The shows ranged from urban to elegant and featured BDC designers. Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther, Selma, Malcolm X) was awarded the NAACP’s Vanguard for Best Costume Design. And the title, “Colors Behind the Look” was apropos as co-founders Kevan Hall and TJ Walker of Cross Colours showed in the fashion show along with BDC members Byron Lars (In Earnest), Rodney Epperson (EPPERSON), and Isaiah Hemmingway. Adding to the beautiful fashions were Kim Kimble Hair Studio, Makeup by Mecca, and shoes provided by Steve Madden and Allen Edmonds. The show was a hand-picked assemblage of designers with a distinguished audience of celebrities, fashionistas, and influencers. Designers came from New York, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles as they wowed the crowd.
The NAACP reached out to BDC about showcasing their Black Design talent. The growing community, which was formed in the fall of 2018, has awarded scholarships and has raised over two million dollars. The BDC continues to thrive while mentoring emerging designers, stylists, and people of color in the fashion industry. The collective’s regularly scheduled Zoom seminars have featured diverse speakers who have helped to educate and equip their members with a series of workshops, arming members with critical information to successfully run a viable fashion brand. This spring, the BDC Creative Center will open in Downtown Los Angeles, to provide members with programming that increases entrepreneur skill sets within the design community; and will provide career exploration and technology training which will allow participants to be competitive in the marketplace.
The runway shows:
First up was Cross Colours, a unisex, eye-popping, colorful streetwear collection that consisted of overalls, oversized hoodies, sweatshirts, sweatsuits, shorts sets made of dynamic prints, hooded barn jackets, and matching denim sets.
EPPERSON showcased a haunting, reverent and viscerally effectual collection that was monochrome and unambiguous—it was stirring.
“It was such an honor to be on the same stage with my awesome ‘BLACK DESIGN COLLECTIVE’ Brothers.
We all share the same passion, yet so uniquely expressed. It was great to see my collection on the West Coast. It was like the models were walking on water.
Special thanks to the NAACP for providing the platform.” – EPPERSON
In Earnest was a culmination of styles with laces, sequins, ranging from diffident midis to body-hugging culottes, and some outfits were uniquely styled with oversized newsboy hats, fedoras, etc. (Hats designed by BDC’s Lisa McFadden.) It was imaginative and filled with retro leanings.
“The Black Design Collective hit it out of the park at the NAACP Image Awards Fashion Show Event, and I was so honored to have been a team member!
We all had such distinct points of view, which really amplified the broad range of Black fashion vision.” – Byron Lars
Isaiah Hemmingway combined business and leisurewear with colorful suits, paired with juxtaposing cuffs on men’s trousers, both revitalizing and refreshing.
“Having Isaiah Hemmingway shown for the first time in LA, during the NAACP Image Awards was amazing! Secondly, doing the show during Black History Month had an even more profound effect. Thanks to the BDC as always for continuing to bring visibility to Black designers.” – Isaiah Hemmingway
Kevan Hall closed with his Fall 2022 collection, TRADING POST!. It was elegant with rich textiles and quintessentially classic, giving an essence of opulence, enhanced with Moroccan sensibilities. The collection was well received and met with fervent applause, followed by a standing ovation.
“My inspiration for TRADING POST! was based on the 1400-1500 trades that happened in Mali, Morocco, and Tarshish, which is an antiquity said to be the place where King Solomon acquired the gold, ivory, and all the beautiful textiles used to build Solomon’s temple. It was the convergence of these various cultures, textiles, languages, and the sharing of knowledge and literature. Mali is the oldest library known to man. It’s all these amazing intersections of culture and craftsmanship and trading of these wonderfully creative ideas. You see the beautiful tapestries, gorgeous colors of onyx, spice, rubies, sapphire, amber, etc. Everything is touched with black and gold or black and silver. The fabrics are tactile and rich, and it is really a feast for the eyes when you see all the beautiful hues and beautiful textures in a mélange of color.” — Kevan Hall
Kevan Hall also dressed Karen Boykin-Towns, chairman of the NAACP Image Awards and vice chairman of the NAACP board for the entire weekend’s festivities, ranging from the luncheon to Black Tie and red carpet looks.
For more information, contact Debbie Lee, 323-658-7979.
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