Fashion designers Byron Lars and Aaron Potts came together for a panel discussion Wednesday night celebrating WWD’s “Black in Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Influence and Culture” book at the Museum at FIT.
Moderated by WWD’s archives editor Tonya Blazio-Licorish, the designers discussed how Black culture has impacted their work, their style influences and the trajectory of their careers.
The designers kicked off the panel discussing how they got their start in the fashion world, with Potts sharing how his upbringing in Detroit going to church and spending time outdoors informed his genderless clothing line. Lars told a story of making a prom dress for a classmate in high school that ignited his passion for design.
“The thing that really let me know that this was a calling was the night that it was prom, I was at home — they were upper class and they were at prom — and I was thinking, wow, there was a really important moment happening in this person’s life and something that I was able to contribute is a really important part of what’s happening now in this experience for her,” Lars said. “That’s a lot of what drives my work today.”
Byron Lars, Tonya Blazio-Licorish and Aaron Potts.
George Chinsee/WWD
As the book highlights pivotal Black figures that helped shape the fashion industry, the designers spoke about several people who they came across in the book that also influenced their own careers. The designers spotlighted figures like Josephine Baker, Frenchie Casimir, Ada “Bricktop” Smith, Diana Ross and others.
On the non-fashion side, Potts highlighted writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin as a style influence.
“There is this one photo of James Baldwin and when I started my company, that image was on my mood board,” Potts said. “It’s of James Baldwin sitting on a stool and he’s sitting very elegantly — legs crossed, arms folded over his knees — and he has on just a shirt and pants with a kerchief around his neck. It’s such a beautiful image of him and I think that image of him actually showed a softer side of him because we know James Baldwin to be this fiery man, who backed down to no conversation, and just seeing him in that really relaxed, genteel state, for me, starting a brand that was about unisex and non-gender conformity, that image really resonated with me.”
For Lars, Oprah Winfrey is a figure that’s stood out from the beginning of his career.
“She sent her stylist to our showroom and I’m thinking, ‘OK, you’re Oprah, what do you want?’” he said. “She’s like, ‘No, she’s going to purchase it,’ and I’m thinking she’ll purchase it for wholesale. No, she wanted us to ship the order to an account in Chicago so she could buy it at full retail to help our sell-throughs in the region. I was like ‘wow.’ I have never met her in person to this day, so it’s not like, ‘Oh, I like that guy.’ It was very intentional for her to do good with her power and money and influence. I’ll never forget that.”
Lars and Potts also spoke of prominent Black designers from the 1970s and 1980s, like Stephen Burrows and Willi Smith, who paved the path for their careers and others to follow suit.
“I would say that Stephen Burrows absolutely is a big influence,” Potts said. “I would also say for me, how my aesthetic has developed over time, Willi Smith is probably one of my ultimates. I think a lot of people don’t even understand what fashion was and what he did was so revolutionary. Just the entire idea of street style and streetwear — that was all Willi Smith and really centering the people and the community as the inspiration. It wasn’t like a top-down thing, it was from here up, and that was really him.”
Byron Lars, Tonya Blazio-Licorish and Aaron Potts.
George Chinsee/WWD
When asked if the designers consider themselves as “Black designers” or “designers who are Black,” Lars and Potts spoke about the importance of visibility — how it’s vital to honor the history of Black creatives in the fashion industry and continue bringing it into the future.
“My Black experience and history and the things I love and inspire me are mostly from Black culture, so they are the foundation of what I do,” Potts said. “So, me referring to myself as a Black designer is a way of honoring all of that and all of these people who came before me and maybe couldn’t have the freedom to say that about themselves and felt that they almost had to subdue that part of them. I do it in a way to honor people, to honor myself and as a bit of a revolutionary pushback.”
Lars explained how his upbringing in a diverse community in California gave him the confidence to pursue a career in fashion, as he had seen Black designers before him successfully break into the industry.
“I honestly am thankful for that upbringing because it gave me the audacity to try,” he said. “Visibility is everything. I saw all of these examples in Ebony. I’m seeing Willi Smith, Patrick Kelly, Stephen Burrows. I was like, this is totally doable and I wasn’t aware that I was a Black designer until I was probably in the middle of being one here.”
The panel discussion was rounded out by an audience question about who the designers’ favorite dandies were, in reference to the upcoming Costume Institute exhibit “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” While names like Little Richard were brought up, the designers expressed cautious optimism for the exhibition.
“Am I going to have to say the quiet parts out loud?” Lars asked. “I hope they do right by this whole effort, but it does feel performative. But if it’s a good performance, who can argue with it?”
