KidSuper founder and Brooklyn arts ambassador Colm Dillane teamed with Brooklyn Borough president Antonio Reynoso to help spotlight rising local talent on Sunday night.
For this initiative, Dillane said he wanted to bring five of the borough’s most promising designers to the New York Fashion Week calendar via a blowout open-air show at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza.
“I always thought there was a disconnect between who got loans or grants and the rising talent who actually needs the funding,” Dillane said before the show. “So by supporting these young creatives, I’m helping to eliminate some of that cost barrier of promoting your work on the fashion week stage.”
Dillane added that the five designers — Kent Anthony, Shriya Myneni, Rojin Jung, Ahmirii Johnson and Daveed Baptiste — were chosen from hundreds who answered an open call earlier this summer. Each received a $5,000 grant and mentorship from Dillane, Fashion Week Brooklyn founder Rick Davy and Outlander magazine.
You May Also Like
During the event, each designer showed five looks that best showed off their brand’s DNA. Anthony’s collection kicked off the night, which showcased his signature bespoke leather work with hand-finished details. “I also like a lot of high-waisted pants, crop jackets and things that accentuate the shoulders and narrow the waist,” Anthony said.
Myneni’s collection, titled “In Pieces, Still Whole,” explores identity as something always shifting, unraveling and coming back together. She noted that this season’s collection reflects themes of unraveling and rebuilding, with each piece meant to feel as though it’s in flux. “Highlights in the collection include a leather top with over 21 panels that were hand-stitched together as well as my finale skirt that took over a month to complete,” the designer said.
For Jung, his capsule was heavily influenced by his experiences living in Brooklyn and how it has shaped him into the person he is today. “It kind of highlights the struggles of becoming a designer and all the trials and tribulations you go through,” Jung said. “So the collection moves in order of that mood with my ‘flower look’ serving as the finale, which represents coming into your own skin.”
“Everlasting Love” was the theme for Johnson’s collection, which explored the relationship between joy and grief. This collection showcased narrative-driven painted fabrics as well as fabrics and silhouettes that referenced her Caribbean heritage. “For me, I love creating wearable art pieces,” she noted.
And for Baptiste, the collection referenced the heritage of Haiti and the Caribbean’s historical trade in indigo. A key piece was the designer’s butterfly denim look, which featured 3D cutouts of butterflies all over a suit and briefcase.
“This collection is an homage to folks migrating and have risked their lives to travel oceans, travel bodies of water, travel through the jungle, and all the way to the U.S.,” Baptiste said. “The butterflies symbolize ascension and soaring high once the young immigrant establishes themselves in their new home.”