#NewBlackHistory: Street Fashion Pioneers heading Luxury Fashion Houses.

Over the past decade, we have seen street-wear and high-fashion brand collaborations take flight, and in the same breath, we witnessed a large pool of Black and Latino creative pioneers moving away from their companies to assist luxury brands.

In the early 80s, as one of the pioneers of streetwear, Dapper Dan introduced high-end fashion to the streets of Hip-hop by reinterpreting what luxury brands look like or how they resonate with street culture. Several decades later, in 2015, global music sensation Rihanna became the face of the Puma Women’s Training category, assuming the role of Creative Director. This aided in her reasserting her values and influence in the game and of course, lots of money was made here thus the trend began growing as the years went by.

In 2018 Virgil Abloh, the late founder of  Haute streetwear label ‘Off-White’ and a longtime creative director for Kanye West, became the first African-American artistic director of men’s wear at Louis Vuitton – one of the oldest and most powerful European houses in the business of luxury and lifestyle.

Recently, we’ve seen the trend of other highly influential luxury street-fashion brand owners who so happen to be people of colour joining the ranks of some of the most powerful houses in fashion and luxury.

Included in this pool is Rhuigi Villaseñor, founder of ‘Rhude’ who, as of January 2022, became the creative director of ‘Bally’, Switzerland.

Most recently Don C, founder of streetwear brand ‘Just Don’, joined the ranks of his legendary home town basketball team, The Chicago Bulls, as Creative Strategy and Design Advisor.

Hot on the heels of these big moves is Tremain Emory, the multi-disciplinary storyteller and founder of ‘Denim Tears’, who has just been named Supreme’s Creative Director.

Is this ongoing trend a strategic move within the culture for the greater benefit of streetwear, urban culture and its global influence? Or could it be a move by luxury fashion houses to simply grow their markets by becoming more influential in street fashion culture?

Are we at the ‘Virg’ of seeing the blueprint for a new #BlackHistory in fashion or are we being poached? You decide. Comment below with your point of view.