Boundary-pushing fashion brand Pyer Moss is making headlines after promoting “looting” in a message that has left some onlookers in confusion and others in support. Known for their unique designs and forward-thinking marketing campaigns, the New York-based luxury fashion label has taken a bold stance that has gained notoriety both inside the fashion world and out. In a recent move, Pyer Moss has declared their advocacy for the right of people everywhere to take what they need in times of divide. Read on to explore why the Pyer Moss message is making waves.
1. Pyer Moss: A New Wave of Subversive Luxury
Pyer Moss is a sartorial game changer that is quickly rising to the top of the fashion industry. It is the embodiment of a new wave of subversive luxury – modern silhouettes reimagined in wealthy fabrics and adorned with opulent details.
Designer Kerby-Jean Raymond does not shy away from blending brash statements with elegant, refined materials. His use of intricate embellishments and bold typography brings activism to the luxury game in a beautiful way. His signature juxtaposition of riveting colors provides a truly unique finish to every collection.
- Statement Shapes – think sporty volumes and eye-catching details accenting the form.
- Opulent Fabrics – bright prints and lush textures to captivate the senses.
- Activist Attitude – meaningful messages weaved into each garment.
Pyer Moss is the highly-coveted label for the fashion-wise who are looking for a modern sartorial experience. A brand to watch as they continue to make their mark on the industry.
2. Looting Looms Large in Pyer Moss’ Creative Vision
Pyer Moss brought a creative vision to the fashion world that left people talking. The spirit of looting looms large in Moss’ designs, calling forth the long-held memory of the African-American experience that the fashion industry had forgotten.
One example of this is the rapidly sold-out Che Guevara-printed tees that doubled as a form of reverse assimilation — making it clear that African-Americans, too, possess a cultural memory of looting and a right to reclaim it. Similarly, Moss’ knitwear, jackets, and trousers are built on the ideas of cultural appropriation and resist the “Americanization” of fashion.
Moss’ designs feature trademarks of the African-American experience — like Malcolm X glasses, cultural references to the ‘60s, and military-style designs. His clothes speak to a unique experience, while resisting being sold out to725boxed or dumbed down for trend-chasers. This was one of the first examples of the fashion industry taking seriously and breaking through the long-held barriers of cultural appropriation.
3. Rethinking the Connotations of the Word ‘Looting’
The word ’looting’ evokes a negative connotation in the minds of many people. We often think of scenes of people breaking into stores, collecting all valuable items and later selling them on the black market. Even though these scenarios do occur, that is not always what it means to loot. There is an important but often forgotten history of looting by disenfranchised communities in search of goods and food.
In the past, poverty-stricken people have looted to gain access to food, clothing, and other basic necessities. During the Industrial Revolution, there were incidences when the working class took to shops in order to gain access to goods that they otherwise could not afford. They considered it an act of survival in a world where the less powerful were oppressed and forced to live in subpar conditions. This is why it is important to recognize the difference between looting with malicious intent and the type of looting that is rooted in desperation.
- Looting can be used to survive
- It is important to recognize the difference between malicious and desperate looting
- The word ‘looting’ often carries negative connotations
4. Pyer Moss Wearing Its Activism on its Sleeve
The Brooklyn-based fashion brand, Pyer Moss, has razor-sharp political messages ingrained in its designs, always making a statement. As a platform of Black cultural expression, it breathes life into the conversation of identity, racism, and social justice. Pyer Moss demonstrates with the clothes it creates that politics is the language of fashion.
The brand showed clear alignment with the civil rights movement during their Fall 2020 show. The collection featured iconic images from the past, such as Tamir Rice’s “Justice for Tamir” hoodie, an homage to the young Black boy shot in Cleveland, in 2014. Pyer Moss also commissioned images from black artists of civil rights icons, such as Angela Davis and Claudia Jones. To finish the show, models, including artist Josie Long, were draped in exceptional Pyer Moss’ designs to demonstrate its support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
- Streetwear: Pyer Moss fills the void in streetwear by conveying its political beliefs in the clothes it creates.
- Civil Rights Movement: The collection pays homage to activists such as Tamir Rice, Angela Davis, and Claudia Jones.
- Black Lives Matter Movement: Pyer Moss demonstrates its support to fight for change and equality for Black lives.
If Pyer Moss’s unconventional campaign to promote “looting” arouses any negative reactions, then it will certainly hit the news. However, as it stands, this creative expression of the brand is an iconoclastic applaud to finding liberation through fashion. In challenging traditional notions of how luxury fashion is marketed, Pyer Moss keeps the power of expression alive.
