PYER MOSS

Founded in 2013 by Haitian-american designer Kerby Jean-raymond, Pyer Moss has been called an art project and timely social experiment by the designer himself. The experiment has proved successful, with the New York-based brand taking home the grand prize at the CFDA/VOGUE Fashion Fund awards in September last year and scoring a lucrative Reebok collaboration deal. Since its inception, the brand has tackled difficult social issues by using its clothes as a platform for storytelling. Jean-raymond stunned audiences at his first show by opening with a 15min video showing police brutality. For his spring/summer 2019 offering, he took inspiration from The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide to help black motorists avoid racial discrimination on road trips in the US during the Jim Crow era. For most seasons, Jean-raymond enlists an artist to help enunciate his vision, and this spring sees Derrick Adams lending 10 pieces of artwork to the collection. Featuring tableaux of everyday African-american life, such as children at a wedding and a lounging grandfather, the artworks are printed on T-shirts or flowing chiffon sheaths. The rest of the collection is kept clean, with boxy-shouldered tuxedo jackets and plaid coats paired with loose trousers and white sandals. As well as activism, Pyer Moss continues to excel at subtle colour-blocking and giving a relaxed spin to formal classics.