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.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a desire for equality in recognition and opportunities regardless of race.
Kerby Jean-Raymond's quote addresses the complexities and challenges faced by designers of color in the fashion industry, questioning whether being labeled as a 'black designer' serves to limit expectations or to celebrate diversity. He expresses a yearning for a level playing field where talent and creativity are recognized without the overshadowing influence of race, advocating for a more equitable environment in which all creators can thrive based on their work alone.
In practice
In a panel discussion on diversity in fashion, one might quote this to emphasize the necessity of equal recognition.
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.
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 thought Star Wars was too wacky for the general public.
Now why should the cinema follow the forms of theater and painting rather than the methodology of language, which allows wholly new concepts of ideas to arise from the combination of two concrete denotations of two concrete objects?
I figured as long as the music stayed hot and important and good, that there would always be a reason for 'Soul Train.'
I get to use fiction as a way to work out my thinking and to delight readers in the process. I can't think of any deal that's better for me, and I'm always so grateful that readers have indulged me as I argue with myself in my stories.
The goal of design is to raise the expectation of what design can be
I think of childhood as an explosion of creativity. For most people, growing up and earning a living means leaving all that behind. But an artist never leaves that behind. Edwin Mullhouse was my way of exploring the child as artist and, under the guise of childhood, something larger.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.