Yesterday evening as the world was preparing for former President Trump’s last day in office, the United States death toll for the COVID-19 virus reached 400,000. To show remorse for the lives lost, President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris held a memorial service in Washington, D.C.
In the act of Harris entering her new role, these next 4 years of the Vice-President’s style will be documented as she makes history as the first Black and South Asian woman to be elected into the VP position. Yesterday, Harris chose to sport a Pyer Moss nude trench coat at one of her first appearances during the transition.
The coat is a staple in American fashion, and when elected into one of the highest positions of power in our nation, it symbloizes a strong message to viewers. Harris’s choice to wear a coat by Pyer Moss is history defining. The buff colored cashmere coat with contrast stitching, is powerful. Standing firmly in her moment, you take notice of the structured wave across her back that grips her shoulders. And the pleats, like columns, give it strength. Wearing a Black designer on the eve of her inauguration is a hopeful display of progress, a precursor to what is next.
Pyer Moss, founded in 2013 by designer Kerby Jean-Raymond, is known for its activism as well as its outerwear, notably dressing Rihanna in their camouflage leather biker jacket and its modern takes on classic silhouettes such as the bomber. Raymond’s collections often highlight the forgotten stories of Black activist in popular culture like; Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a queer Black woman who debatably founded Rock ’n roll or collaborating with Richard Philips, a painter who spent 45 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.
Black designers have long contributed to the landscape of fashion in our country and globally, without recognition. The future of designers in our community rely on their ability, much like Vice-President Kamala Harris, to take up space and have agency over their own stories and image.
That is what is revolutionary.
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Vice-President Kamala Harris Wears Pyer Moss At COVID-19 Memorial
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Vice-President Kamala Harris Wears Pyer Moss At COVID-19 Memorial
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Vice-President Kamala Harris Wears Pyer Moss At COVID-19 Memorial
