One minute, five emerging designers were showing their collections at Brooklyn Borough Hall. The next, Wyclef Jean was on stage — and then Lauryn Hill appeared.
Now in its second year, The People’s Runway is a Brooklyn-based NYFW initiative created by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and KidSuper founder and Brooklyn Arts Ambassador Colm Dillane. The project gives emerging Brooklyn designers funding, mentorship and the chance to show their work on the official NYFW calendar.
Fashion Week can sometimes feel like a very closed conversation. The People’s Runway does the opposite. Taking place outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, the show brings fashion into a public space and puts emerging designers directly in front of their own community.
Which is probably the point.
Selected from hundreds of applicants, these five designers brought some much-needed freshness — and pure fun — to the sometimes too uptight rules of fashion month. Let me introduce you.
Kuai Li of Quine Li
“Design is not something I put on the body. It is something I place in space, and the body completes it.”
That quote pretty much tells you what to expect from Quine Li. Founded by Chinese designer Kuai Li, the New York-based brand treats the body almost like a moving sculpture, playing with geometric shapes, volume and the relationship between garment and wearer.
Her sculptural approach has already attracted major names, with collaborations and custom work connected to Doja Cat, Kylie Jenner and Katy Perry. At The People’s Runway, that idea of turning clothing into something closer to an object of art felt right at home.
Lamin Rey Jaiteh of Rey Jaiteh
Born and raised in The Gambia before moving to the U.S. as a teenager, Lamin Rey Jaiteh draws from both his personal history and the city around him.
New York street style, childhood memories, art, music and wider cultural influences all find their way into his work. Rather than treating fashion as something separate from everyday life, Rey Jaiteh uses each collection to translate his experiences into clothes designed to actually be lived in.
Laurel Tiange Fang of Laurel Blue
Laurel Blue takes inspiration from somewhere a little less expected: the ocean.
Laurel Tiange Fang combines contemporary silhouettes with 3D printing, laser cutting and experimental textile treatments to turn oceanic landscapes into wearable forms. The result sits somewhere between technology and craftsmanship, with fluid shapes, soft textures and an almost underwater quality.
Moses Aina of IGBO-SISUN
Moses Aina, the designer behind IGBO-SISUN, already has an impressive list of names behind him. His work has been worn by U.N. leaders and Emmy nominees, while his experience includes working with global fashion houses such as Gucci.
But IGBO-SISUN is about more than credentials. Aina brings together fashion, culture and advocacy, creating statement pieces around ideas of excellence, joy and empowerment.
Roderick Reyes
For Roderick Reyes, fashion started early — and it eventually took him to the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he studied Fashion Design alongside Art History and Film.
His interests stretch from design and styling to film, retail and production, but the part of the process he loves most is construction. Time spent in the atelier developing and perfecting a garment is central to his practice, making the physical process of building a collection just as important as the final look.
The Colm Dillane Effect
Behind the project is Colm Dillane, the designer behind KidSuper and Brooklyn’s Arts Ambassador. His role goes beyond putting his name behind another NYFW event: he mentors the selected designers and helps turn their ideas into collections that can actually make it onto a runway.
And that might be the most valuable part of The People’s Runway. The designers aren’t just given a slot on the calendar. They get funding, guidance, industry access and the chance to experience what putting on a real NYFW show actually takes.
And Then Lauryn Hill Appeared
The fashion show could have ended there. It didn’t.
Wyclef Jean took the stage before bringing out Ms. Lauryn Hill, reuniting the two Fugees members in Brooklyn 30 years after The Score.
Suddenly, The People’s Runway became something bigger.
There’s something very Brooklyn about ending an emerging-designer runway with two of the borough’s biggest musical names. Fashion, music, community and a slightly unexpected amount of chaos — somehow, it all made sense.
The People’s Runway is still young — this was only its second edition. But perhaps that’s what makes it worth watching. NYFW has no shortage of established names, celebrity front rows and brands with enormous budgets. What it has less of is a runway asking what happens when a city invests directly in the people creating within it.
Brooklyn already has the designers. The People’s Runway is giving them somewhere to go.