Pyer Moss

Words by Sharon Edelson

Photos by Tone Woolfe

Talk about your mothers and fathers of invention.
Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond did more than talk for his inaugural couture show. Jean-Raymond delighted his audience with a series of soft sculpture garments such as a plush peanut butter jar – one of George Washington Carver's many peanut discoveries – and just one of many innovations by Black Americans.

In a gesture as inspiring as it was symbolic, Jean-Raymond held his runway show at Villa Lewaro, an estate in Irvington, New York, Uas yog lub tsev ntawm tus thawj dub poj niam self-made millionaire, Madam C.J. yamntxwv, leej twg tsim ib txoj kab zoo ntawm plaub hau khoom. Tus thawj qhia teem rau hnub plaub yog doused los torrential nag, Tab sis lub hnub qhia rau Jean-Raymond tus thib ob coj rau hnub Saturday.

Nyob rau hauv nws cov ntawv ceeb toom, Jean-Raymond hais tias Madam C.J. Yamntxwv wealth yog nyiaj ntau tshaj nyiaj, ntxiv tias dub txoj kev vam meej pib "nco ntsoov, dab ntxwg nyoog, sib. Nws paub tias tsis muaj duas yuav puas satisfy tus nqi lossis txoj kev ywj pheej – tias ntsuab sheets ntawm daim ntawv thiab tooj liab npib yuav tsis mend souls, Lub siab lub ntsws lossis nyob rau hauv cov kev phem peb twb tau ntxeem."

Ces Jean-Raymond puas tau Madam Walker zoo siab. Nws them homage dub American inventions overlooked los ntawm keeb kwm thiab hais ayahuasca pab nws nrhiav tau tus inspiration rau nws thawj Couture sau, Uas tau txais los ntawm lub Federation tsib la Haute Couture et de la Mode nyob Paris, Ua nws tus thawj dub designer los yeej muaj ib coveted chaw rau cov Fabkis txoj calendar.

"Wat U Iz," lub npe ntawm tus sau phau ntawv, Txawm nta hlo ib tug tswv tsev ntawm celebrities ntawm lub ntiaj teb ntawm suab paj nruag, Hollywood, zam, thiab ntau dua, Nrog ib $AP Ferg, Tracee Ellis Ross, Aurora James, Txoj cai Roach, 24golden, Joey Badass, lwm tus.

Tus sau yog txaus campy lub sij hawm. Jean-Raymond tsis coj nws tus kheej los yog cov inventions ib yam nkaus thiab tiag. Thaum kawg no, Tus sau nrog ib cape thiab head-piece ua kub curlers qhwv nrog plaub hau, a ruched silk jersey corseted and hand-beaded dress with matching bespoke lampshade hat richly embellished in Swarovski crystals, and a portable air conditioning unit attached to a frame held by a model wearing a yellow gown.

"Everybody's inviting a narrative," Jean-Raymond said. "If you'd seen my work when I was 16 and doing T-shirts, it's the same. I've just updated my work, but I've never really changed the ethos of it. I want people to experience that black culture is not a dirty thing. It's the creativity, inventions and ingenuity that contributed to [our] independence."

There may also be some debt owed to Moschino's campier creations by Jeremy Scott, whose tongue-in-chic designs poke fun at the fashion industry by not taking themselves too seriously – think of the cartoonish Marie Antoinette dresses and wedding cake extravaganza – but Pyer Moss' designs are imbued with deeper meaning, shedding light on inventors who've been canceled or merely forgotten by the culture at large.

The looks resided at the intersection of fashion and art with soft sculpture for some designs, and others involved welding and fiberglass molding. A giant hand-shaped puffer coat enveloping a mannequin was holding a mop – the invention – while another model wearing a stunning pale blue gown with cutouts held a life-size horseshoe. A soft-serve ice cream top with rivulets of sprinkles was paired with oversize chaps that looked like ice cream cones. And so it went. Visual puns and stunners, such as a white Avant guard suit with a belt of black and white typewriter keys came out of the mansion to the music of 22gz and the sound of commanding drums.

There were fire escapes on a model wearing a red and orange body leotard and a pair of handlebars and metal skirt worn over a white bodysuit. A refrigerator with alphabet magnets spelled out, "And who invented Black trauma," in keeping with Jean-Raymond's activist side and challenging the audience to think as well as see the spectacles. That and the incredible construction elevated the collection well above costume. With this freshman show under his belt, we are all eagerly awaiting couture 2.