Fashion Label on the Rise: Pyer Moss

Pyer Moss has officially been announced as the winner of the 2018 CFDA Fashion Fund prize, an award that will grant the designer $400,000 in prize money. The Fashion Fund was set up 2003 with the intention of giving emerging American design talent the opportunity for further success in the business of fashion. Former winners have included Jonathan Simkhai, Altuzarra, Alexander Wang and Proenza Schouler.

Pyer (pronounced like “Pierre) Moss was launched in 2013 by designer Kerby Jean-Raymond.  The label’s moniker is a combination of Jean-Raymond’s mother’s American and Haitian last names. In fact all of his designs feature some sort of dedication to his parents, such as small initials.

Born in Brooklyn, Jean-Raymond attended The High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan. While studying he undertook an apprenticeship under Kay Unger at her eponymous label and later worked with Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig at Marchesa, as well as freelancing for Theory and Marc Jacobs.

Best described as “a luxury streetwear brand,” the Pyer Moss collections celebrate black culture in America with designs that sit firmly in the luxury streetwear camp. Block colours and crisp tailoring are a common theme and the brand is known for its impactful slogan t-shirts. The label has also collaborated with Reebok on a series of clothing and trainer designs.

The Jean-Raymond’s designs demonstrate a strong political conscience.  At the spring/summer 2016 catwalk show, he aired a documentary on racially motivated police brutality in the US and later created a t-shirt called ‘They Have Names,’ which listed victims such as Walter Scott, who was shot in Charleston in 2015 after being pulled over for having a brake light that wasn’t working, and Eric Garner, who died after being held in a choke hold during arrest in New York in 2014. Recent slogan t-shirts included “Stop calling 911 on the culture.”

In 2014, Pyer Moss won the Fashion Group International Rising Star Award in the menswear category, and in 2015 Jean-Raymond was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List. And now with the CFDA Fashion Fund prize, Jean-Raymond’s  star is certainly in the ascendant.

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