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" I was going to college on a full scholarship. I graduated summa cum laude. I was always on the dean's list. I was never a kid that started any kind of trouble. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

Scholarship

Trouble

College

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" The world absolutely needs your voice. "

" All clothes are worn on the street, but 'streetwear' had once described T-shirt brands and skate-inspired brands, and now it's just a lazy innuendo used to describe clothing made by designers that the establishment deems 'less than.' "

" The way I was raised, you get a new pair of sneakers when the old one gets messed up. But when I got to high school, I started dating girls and trying to fit in, and I realized everybody was collecting Jordans. When I would get my paychecks, I wouldn't even take money. I would just trade them for sneakers. "

" 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

" 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. "

" 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

Oppression

People

" You have these megabrands who make most of their money off hip-hop culture. Where were they in the time of need? "

" 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

Help

" 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.' "

" With things that I'm going through, whether they be on a small scale or a large scale, I'm thinking, 'Who else is going through this? And how can I address it and bring it to light to help someone else?' "

" 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. "

" We need to think forward and keep making America greater. Not that old America, again. "

" 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.' "

" We don't need to go back in time and make America great again, because really, America was only great for certain people. "

" If you put the collections together, whether it's Rick Owens, Alexander Wang, or whomever, sometimes they do streetwear, but they're never called that. They're always called 'sportswear' or 'high-end' or 'luxury.' I feel like I'm tossed into that streetwear category so that I don't exist in this space. "

" All it took was one conversation to know that Reebok was the right home for our team. "

" 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. "

" I don't know which was the first love - music or fashion. "

" America is a flawed land but a great one indeed. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I want to be fashion's Erykah Badu. What I admire about her is her timelessness and her fearless approach. "

" 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. "

" Financing is always the hard part, especially if you don't have friends or family to back you, which was my case and the case for most designers. "

" 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. "

" I think that when you rally powerful voices around powerful issues, what you get are positive results. "

" 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

Look

" A president's power is limited. We need to vote down the ballot as well, from your councilman all the way up to your governors and congressman. "

" Our first fiscal year, we were profitable. "

" I don't think the narrative I was stuck in - the 'black' designer category - was going to go away anytime soon. "