9 MOSES SUNNEY

LAST YEAR 13

MOSES SUMNEY proves you don’t need splashy colors to make an impact. In his case, it’s the very lack of color that’s so striking. “Wearing all black has taught me discipline,” says the North Carolina-based Ghanaian American artpop musician. Sumney doesn’t stray beyond a palette of onyx, jet, and the occasional charcoal, yet everything he does feels glamorous and theatrical. “It’s thinking about what’s going to move,” he says. “I appreciate that it, as a wearer, forces me to be a bit more disciplined and knowledgeable, but also, for the viewer, it creates a distinction.” Sumney gravitates toward draped looks and cuts that emphasize tex- ture, fabric, and silhouette. Last year, he walked for Riccardo Tisci’s fall 2022 collection at Burberry, and also attended the prestigious CFDA Awards with designer Willy Chavarria, suited in a piece that augmented (what else?) head-totoe black with subtle elements of religious iconography (echoing Sumney’s background as the son of two Christian pastors). “Now I know really what it means for something to be silk,” he says, beaming. “I know what it means for something to be waxy and hold a shine, or for something to be more matte.”