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" Our first fiscal year, we were profitable. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

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" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

" 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

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

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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

" 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. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" We're constantly having to go head-to-head with the Bernie Madoffs of the world who just want more and more money. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

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

Kerby Jean-Raymond

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

Kerby Jean-Raymond

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

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" Nobody can shut the door in your face if you own the door. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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

" 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

" 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. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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?' "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

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

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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

" I've never seen Ralph Lauren, Rick Owens, or Raf Simons described as white designers. They are just designers. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

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

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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

" I'm desperately trying to unplug. The last thing I want is a watch that connects to my phone which connects to my iPad that connects to my computer that airplays to my TV. "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" 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.' "

Kerby Jean-Raymond

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

Kerby Jean-Raymond

" '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

" 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