London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

The Black-Owned Fashion Labels Making Waves for Spring 2021

The Black-Owned Fashion Labels Making Waves for Spring 2021

For up-and-coming Black designers, this season's runways offered an unparalleled showcase for self-expression. Next up: household-name status.

If you want to know who’s in line to be the next fashion superstar, it helps to ask a current one. Christopher John Rogers, the CFDA’s 2020 American Emerging Designer of the Year, has his money on Edvin Thompson, whom Rogers calls “undoubtedly one of New York’s most promising stars.” Thompson landed the cover of Women’s Wear Daily right before showing the spring 2021 collection for his line, Theophilio (shown above.) He paid tribute to his home country of Jamaica via button-down shirts with corset ties at the back, sheer slipdresses, and mesh tops. And his work has already found fans in Gabrielle Union, Tinashe, and model Alton Mason, thanks to what Rogers calls his “uniquely pointed aesthetic-one that’s rooted in, and informed by, his specificities and idiosyncrasies, and doesn’t look to external references to develop itself.”



Thompson-along with Maximilian Davis, Aisling Camps, Hanifa’s Anifa Mvuemba, and House of Aama’s mother-daughter duo Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka-is part of a wave of talented Black designers emerging into a spotlight that has, perhaps, never shined brighter on them. While Black designers’ contributions have always been central to fashion-as in the trailblazing work of Stephen Burrows, Willi Smith, and Patrick Kelly, to name only a few-“fashion relies on visibility, and so historically, we have never had visibility in the way we translate fashion,” says Harlem-based fashion legend Dapper Dan. This historical moment, driven by the Black Lives Matter movement, has given creators that long-deserved visibility, thanks in part to the growing public push to buy from and support Black-owned brands. Fashion has an unfortunate tendency to divide the world into “moments” and “trends.” But the designers behind these labels are determined that this not be just a moment in time, but a sea change in the way the fashion industry operates when it comes to race. Their aim? To be accorded the same opportunities for longevity as their white peers.



And they’re on track for just that kind of success. Davis teased his debut spring 2021 collection on Instagram with a video that nodded to the history of Trinidadian Carnival, with its quickening beat, moody lighting, and sleek, sexy silhouettes. Selected by Fashion East, the influential London incubator that has helped launch the careers of JW Anderson and Simone Rocha, he presented a collection that ran the gamut from cutout clubwear to perfectly oversize suiting. Fashion critic Tim Blanks praised the “pin-sharp elegance” and “wildly sensual sophistication” of his work, and Net-a-Porter, Browns, and Ssense have snapped up the collection. Costanza Lombardi, a Browns womenswear buyer, says she was drawn to his work because it is “so personal, so honest, that you immediately feel the power of his storytelling. It is a translation of memories through the clothes.”



The nouveau-Victorian look shows no signs of waning, and its fans would do well to check out House of Aama. Shabaka just received a grant worth about $15,000 from the CFDA’s Designers Hub, started by model and activist Bethann Hardison. Henry and Shabaka’s work focuses on the postbellum South, rethinking Victorian silhouettes-high necks, cinched waists, regal flounces-in modern fabrics and patterns. “When [Black Americans] were emancipated from slavery, they found a way to stand upright, hold their head up, and keep moving forward,” Henry says. “What we really strive to convey in our brand is that resilience.”



Black fashion-industry veterans see this time as an opportunity for a true shift, and they are stepping up to support these newer names. Hardison started her project at the CFDA to increase her mentees’ profiles in the industry. “I got tired of people saying, ‘Where are the Black designers?’ Well, they’re around. Just because everyone is not Virgil Abloh doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” she says. With her mentees, she emphasizes the less glamorous nitty-gritty behind operating a fashion brand “to make sure they have a business that will definitely survive, that they can leave to their children,” she says. “I’m not trying to help make you famous.”

The landscape for any emerging designer right now is admittedly challenging, but Shabaka is hopeful. “I’m excited to see how fashion is being used as a way to create community now,” she says, “in spaces [where] maybe you felt like you couldn’t knock down the door.” As for Rogers, he’ll be cheering on his friend Thompson: “I can’t wait to see what he does next.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×