Kerby Jean-Raymond is the first Black American designer invited to show at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.&nbsp;

After several weather-related delays, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/stephen-burrows-designer-color-blocking-black-fashion-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kerby Jean-Raymond</a> debuted his first haute couture collection for <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/emerging-fashion-brands-2020-fashion-telfar-christopher-john-rogers-pyer-moss" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pyer Moss</a>, making him the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/pyer-moss-kerby-jean-raymond-first-black-american-designer-haute-couture-debut-fall-winter-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first Black American fashion designer</a> invited by the F&eacute;d&eacute;ration de la Haute Couture to present for a Paris Haute Couture season. In line with this theme of Black Excellence, Raymond held the brand's Fall/Winter 2021 Haute Couture show, titled "Wat U Iz," just outside of New York City at <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/famous-firsts-womens-history-month" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Madam C.J. Walker</a>'s Hudson River Valley mansion, Villa Lewaro. Guests included <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/kiki-layne-coming-2-america-actress-interview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KiKi Layne</a>, Logan Browning from Netflix's Dear White People, rapper Cordae, and more.
While guests waited out the initial delays under tents, Raymond reportedly walked around <a href="https://twitter.com/eiffeltyler/status/1413208085162770434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">handing out packages of marijuana</a>, wrapped with the message, "Waiting on reparations, and a fucking apology, til then...we're getting in the weed business. -KJR."&nbsp;

Though the show was postponed by two days, models paraded down the runway proving that the show was well worth the wait. Commenting on the invention of Blackness and subsequently Black culture, Jean-Raymond revels in the glory of Black invention and history with his collection of 25 haute couture looks. Each one conceptualizes Black imagination in an avant-garde style that reinforces the inspiration behind the collection. From a reimagined Pyer Moss-labeled jar of peanut butter to oversized hats &agrave; la <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/erykah-badu-best-hat-moments-songs-instagram" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Erykah Badu</a> with dangerously long beaded fringe, the collection celebrates the intimate anecdotes of Black life as told within the community.
From the choice of venue to the spirited goodies handed out during the weather delays to the actual garments, each element of the show points at the necessity of more Black representation in business, technology, and economical growth and asks the question: What would life look like now if Black people had been allowed in these spaces all along?

See Every Look from Pyer Moss's Fall/Winter 2021 Haute Couture Collection

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