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" I want to be fashion's Erykah Badu. What I admire about her is her timelessness and her fearless approach. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Her
Fearless
Fashion
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" I played baseball, was on the basketball team in high school, did crew at Hofstra, and randomly played ultimate frisbee, too. But none of the organized teams I was on were anywhere near as competitive as the games on the street. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
High School
School
Baseball
" I grew up thinking my father was tacky. There was no color coordination. It was whatever was cool. 'These sweatpants are cool. I'll wear them with these shoes that are cool.' He had less inhibitions. I wasn't respectful of his swag then. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Shoes
Father
Thinking
" In my shows, I always try to incorporate music because it's the most natural way to set a tone. So if I want to do a show about depression, I use the opera. If I want to do a show about greed, I use spoken word. If I want to do a show about the injustice that's taking place in the world, I might play Sam Cooke. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Try
World
Music
" We're always ready for a pick-up game. I walk through the park on the way home every day and just think to myself, 'I'll take on any of these kids.' "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Game
Day
Walk
" I don't know which was the first love - music or fashion. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
First Love
Love
Music
" The world absolutely needs your voice. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Your
World
Voice
" I think that when you rally powerful voices around powerful issues, what you get are positive results. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Positive
You
Think
" All it took was one conversation to know that Reebok was the right home for our team. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Conversation
Right
Know
" I grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. At the time I was growing up with my father - before it was gentrified - it was a very rough neighborhood. He felt that if I got into or started embracing the rap culture, I would be one step closer to being on the streets. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Time
Father
Growing Up
" The work of black creatives seems to always get undermined in one way or another, and that's what this new generation is actively changing by speaking up. We aren't accepting group categorization and group classifications to describe our work anymore - it just leads to group dismissal. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Work
Black
Group
" All my collections are based on something I like or something I'm dealing with. They are always deeply personal. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Like
Dealing
Deeply
" My earliest memories of defying my parents were through music. I remember rap being banned in my house, and then getting a Cam'ron album. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Rap
Parents
Music
" I wanted to be a sneaker designer since I was 10; it was my dream to work at Nike and design signature shoes for Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway. When it was time to select high schools, I wanted to go to one that would help me get a jump-start on my dream. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Design
Me
Help
" We don't need to go back in time and make America great again, because really, America was only great for certain people. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
People
Need
Back
" I design for social media. My customer reads blogs, is on social media, so I design with contrast in mind. An all-black shirt looks good on the shelf but not online. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Social Media
Design
Good
" Systemically, there hasn't been an oppression more overt and long-lasting than economic oppression against black people and minorities in this country. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
More
Oppression
People
" My dad used to give me old electrical equipment that didn't work anymore, and I'd put things together. I think that's why I like to mix things that don't belong. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Old
Work
Me
" Is the 'black designer' label there to warn everyone not to have the same level of expectations for me, or is it some type of prize? I just want to work in an even playing field where I can get press for my work and not just my race and my personal views on it. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Expectations
Black
Work
" In September of 2015, I did the unthinkable: I used my second-ever runway show to bring awareness to the Black Lives Matter movement. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do professionally. It was lonely. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Matter
Awareness
Black
" I've always felt like an outcast. My aesthetic is very high-end, but I still get classified as streetwear. There's really no other reason for than other than my age, the way I look, and where I'm from. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Always
Like
Look
" There were times when gangs would approach me, but my father was way stronger than them. They would come make threats and stuff, and I was like, 'You don't know the opposition I've got upstairs. I'm not scared of you.' "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Know
You
Stronger
" My dad was always so strict that I was scared to speak to him. Haitian parents are very, 'This is adults' business; this is kids' business.' "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Speak
Scared
Always
" If I'm going to be the black designer, I'm going to tell it my way. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Black
Designer
Going
" If you're on the fence about speaking your truth or sharing your world with a greater audience, don't be. We need each other badly. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
World
Fence
Need
" Our first fiscal year, we were profitable. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Fiscal
Year
Profitable
" One of the things about runways that I hate is that you can't accommodate so many people because you don't have those in-and-out privileges where people can come and go. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Come
Go
Hate
" Think about how much fashion profits from black culture and how underrepresented we are in the industry. If you insist on using black celebrities to peddle your merchandise and add a cool factor to your front row, it is indecent to not care about the plights of that person's community. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Community
Black
Think
" A lot of us who are creative and have all these great ideas just don't have the money to do it. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Great
Money
Just
" I don't think the narrative I was stuck in - the 'black' designer category - was going to go away anytime soon. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Think
Narrative
Going
" 'Bernie versus Bernie,' for me, is these two extremes of capitalism. It's Bernie Sanders, the ultimate socialist, and Bernie Madoff, the ultimate capitalist. "
Kerby Jean-Raymond
Socialist
Ultimate
Capitalism