thats just silly lol

Tap dancing to Westside gunn kinda fire ngl

This only proof of why he is successful

He's been finessing "culture" his entire career lmao

any piece of media can be clipped, edited or out right fabricated to push a narrative. crazy times.

Virgil ruined the streetwear scene and makes trash clothes/shoes, but yeah those pics and videos of the runway shows are obviously taking his political statements out of context

I'm not big on the streetwear s*** like that. How would you say he ruined streetwear?

I wouldn't say Virgil singlehandedly ruin streetwear, but he commercialized the style. Pyrex. Gildan hoodies marked up x20. Even worse than Supreme. And people bought it. And so high end fashion trended toward streetwear for the past half decade. None of it is street, nor authentic

Not streetwear itself, just the whole “fit pic” type scene. After seeing all the IG influencers hyping his s***ty ass Nike collabs I knew he jumped the shark, not his fault but still. In my eyes he’s the poster child for selling s*** quality and low-effort clothes for hundreds more than what they’re actually worth. He’s become the idol for instagram kids who use their parents’ credit cards to buy supreme.

The type of kids who put “creative director / stylist” in their bio with a Carti lyric as their captions but have literally no knowledge of the inner workings of the fashion world

so if street wear is food trucks and local restaurants and high fashion is Michelin Star restaurants then off white would be like a red lobster

yes off white is like red lobster, some stuff on their menu might be fire but its fake authenticity and over franchised

it was bad before that bro

actually it was always bad

before Virgil it was Kanye clones and Jerry boiz. Before that it was ASAP clones in black scale and white forces, and fake leather givenchy tees from WTT era. Before that it was odd future stans in supreme and vans. before that it was snap backs and skinny jeans

it’s always been the same types of kids following whatever’s trending

I agree with you on all this, but something about the 2016-2018 time period sticks out to me as the biggest influx of these people

Maybe it’s when ironic meme culture started becoming mainstream on social media. Also just the continuously rising number of social media users as a whole

that was around the time he unveiled The Ten, which finally dropped in 2017

I’d say that was peak sneaker culture hype wise

hes like the drake of fashion
takes from other artists (or genres) and it becomes hits
not the most ethical thing in the world but imo still some talent in finding things that will sell

If it was about creativity, Wale would be where Virgil is rn

Dude held to a much higher standard than his contemporaries

startups jelly

Maybe Virgil might be on some coon s***, and it's quite possible that ALOT of his designs suck, he is a cheap ass but he still had to work his ass off for 20 sum years to get to the position he's at rn.

While there are people who can't even work on their passion or goals for 2-3hrs everyday to change their life.

Virgil is great at marketing, but not a good designer. He is a perfect fit for what many of these luxury brands are trying to create now.

Kenneth Ize is a talent that deserves more attention, even though he has some buzz now in the fashion world.

What can you tell me about Ize?

He was a LVMH prize finalist last year, together with Emily Bode that I have mentioned before. Those are the two I have followed closest from that year, the winners Hed Mayner and Thebe Magugu are also cool.

I first noticed him through some other African designers that I had followed for a while (Hazza, Kente Gentlemen, Orange Culture). He does great work with patterns and fringes. His designs has also some sartorial elements. I think both SS19 and AW20 is great examples of that.

He also has a cool business model in Nigeria: kennethize.net/about

Can't wait to look into him
Thank you so much for all of this
Any other black designers you've really been f***ing with that you didn't mention here?

No problem, I like discussing lesser known designer talents, they are often more exciting than most of the established star designers. Other black designers worth mentioning are Maxhosa By Laduma and T-Michael.

T-Michael is one of my favorite designers and the one that got me interested in clothes in the first place. He is a real style icon. He has is own brand, T-Michael, and the brand Norwegian Rain that makes the coolest rain jackets. t-michael.com

Amah Ayivi is also an interesting person to look into. I dont like Instagram very much, but it is an ideal place to find cool communities tied to one person that you stumble upon.