Changing the Face of Fashion: 5 Designers to Watch

Last year, at the start of fashion month in February, The New York Times wrote that black designers only made up 2.7 percent of the brands expected to show at New York Fashion Week. The stat was not only startling, but ironic, considering that here in the U.S., February is also Black History Month. The Times went on to state that the figures, in part, reflected the makeup of the CFDA, which only boasted 12 African-American members out of 470. But, things do seem to be changing.

This year at New York Fashion Week: Men’s, the CFDA backed emerging designers like Donrad Duncan for EFM in Dockers and AXE-supported shows. Other designers, like Maxwell Osborne of Public School, benefited from added visibility with his brand appointments as Creative Director at DKNY, alongside his business partner Dao-Yi Chow. These designers (and others) are changing the industry, not just statistically, but in the perspectives and viewpoints they represent.

In keeping with that forward momentum, here are five designers of color to watch who are changing the face of fashion.

With work at Sean John prior to forging new ground with his Public School label (in addition to the much smaller Black Apple brand), Maxwell Osborne has become one of the key designers at New York Fashion Week. Working with fellow ex-Diddy employee Dao-Yi Chow, Osborne has become a bit of a CFDA darling, relaunching the Public School business in the CFDA's incubator program, winning their Fashion Fund, and taking home quite a few of the annual awards doled out by the association.

Collaborative co-signs have been numerous, linking up with everyone from J. Crew to Jordan and Tumi. Now, the Osborne is helping breathe new life into DKNY, replacing founder Donna Karan after she parted ways with the company she built. This, a feat accomplished while enjoying a place at the forefront of fashion’s hot spot between contemporary, streetwear, and elevated basics.

This year marks a decade in business for the leather accessories label Want Les Essentiels de la Vie. The company, founded in Montreal by French Canadian twins Byron and Dexter Peart, is known for its minimally designed, high-quality travel goods, backpacks, and footwear. Prior to launching the brand, the duo ran a branding agency under the WANT name that worked with the likes of Fillipa K, Maison Kitsune, and Tomorrowland. With a Manhattan flagship shop, a stockist list of the highest caliber (Colette, Opening Ceremony, and more), and collaborations with everyone from J. Crew to Barneys, the brand practically runs in a league of its own in the accessories market.

Armando Cabral racked up quite the reputation as a model before launching his own footwear line in 2008. With work for the likes of J. Crew, Ozwald Boateng, Calvin Klein (where he was once booked as an exclusive model for the brand), and H&M, as well as editorials for GQ, amongst others, his relationship with clothing was never just a part time thing.

But after wearing anywhere from 300 to 400 pairs of kicks (his estimate) up and down international runways, Cabral started designing shoes of his own. Aiming for an aesthetic that is both classic and casual, while using only high-quality materials, Cabral’s Italian-made shoes have found fans from influential retailers like Beams in Japan, Dover Street Market in London, and Bloomingdale’s in New York. The brand has a presence in over 13 countries around the world, in addition to online outlets like Mr Porter.

Before getting into fashion, Wale Oyejide put in time as a musician (at one point he linked up with J Dilla for a project) and as a civil defense litigator. It’s quite a varied past, but in 2010 the Nigeria-born dandy got tapped as one of five Best Dressed Real Men in the country by Esquire. That notoriety, coupled with boredom in litigation, pushed Oyejide to start up his fashion label Ikire Jones, which serves as a bit of a melting pot for the various influences in his life.

As he was never trained in the industry, the business owner brought on Sam Hubler, who had run his own line Raval & Knight and was an accomplished bespoke tailor (men's fashion icon Nick Wooster has worn his pieces). Paired together, the duo churns out ethnic updates on menswear staples like double-breasted blazers with lapels lined in ikat prints, as well as scarves and pocket squares overlaid with Renaissance paintings, edited to include people of color in places of power. With a great response from their showing at menswear mecca Pitti Uomo earlier this year, the brand seems primed for expansion.