Fashion label Pyer Moss never ceases to astound, inspire and affirm us. Aside from making incredibly fashion-forward sportswear, designer Kerby Jean-Raymond never shies away from making powerful statements about what it means to be black in America.
Truthfully, we’d just finished swooning over the label’s recent family reunion- themed Spring-Summer presentation when a series of visuals coinciding with the release of Pyer Moss’ Fall-Winter 2018-19 collection, titled “American, Also,” dropped on Thursday, featuring some familiar faces, forgotten narratives and a fiercely self-loving theme.
“Do you feel American?” asks the campaign. It was scored by frequent Pyer Moss collaborator Raphael Saadiq and filmed by directing duo Rubberband in so-called black Meccas like the South Side of Chicago, Il., Baltimore, Md., Los Angeles, Ca., and the Brownsville community of Brooklyn, N.Y. Comprised of a series of one-minute “lessons” and short films, political pundit Angela Rye, revolutionary educator and founder of Brownsville’s Mott Hall Bridges Academy Nadia Lopez, and community activist Ameena Matthews are among those featured, as are members of horseback-riding organization Compton Cowboys and the Cowgirls of Color rodeo team, representing references to 19th-century Black cowboys in Pyer Moss’ collection.
All confront the idea that we are “others” in America as they each speak on themes of self-preservation, self-awareness, self-healing and so on. The overriding message? Self-love—of our culture, our history, our conflicted country and our people.
Timed to coincide with the relaunch of the label’s website and e-commerce, Pyer Moss’ Fall-Winter collection, including its latest collaboration with Reebok, is available for purchase.