From the 3-D couture pieces to the location, the 2021 Pyor Moss show breathed a dose of refreshing Black life into high fashion while paying homage to Black inventors including those involved in beauty culture. Many photos reveal the location of the show which was hosted at Madam CJ Walker’s Villa Lewaro. Kerby Jean-Raymond’s decision to host his “Wat U Iz” show at Madam Walker’s former home is notable not only for the historical Black economic excellence but also because Madam Walker not only lived in Villa Lewaro, but she also hosted a number of her Walker Agency meetings including The National Convention of Walker Beauticians there. Thus, the feet of several Black women who cultivated the beauty service and product industry in the early 20th century America graced the very grounds where Kerby Jean-Raymond honored Black inventions nearly 100 years after the initial meetings of Walker Beauticians at her estate.
The Black beauty industry was also honored in the ever so memorable head to toe length headdress made from rollers that was dawned by one of the Pyor Moss models wearing a rust orange and aqua blue trimmed robe with a quilted lapel. The roller head piece paid homage to the first hot hair rollers or Thermostatic Controlled Hair Curlers as patented by Solomon Harper in 1930. Solomon Harper, both an engineer and inventor, expounded upon his original Thermostatic Hair Curler invention in 1953; the official 1953 patent included more than the hot curler as evidenced in its title “Thermostatic Controlled Hair Curlers, Combs, and Irons”.
Much like Madam CJ Walker’s notoriety extends beyond being the first Black millionaire into a legacy of community development, philanthropy, invention, women’s autonomy, and more Kerby Jean-Raymond’s notoriety as the first Black designer invited by the Fédération de la Haute Couture to present for a Paris Haute Couture season or Paris Fashion Week extends beyond that honor to a reputation as an artist devoted to the uplift of Black people, history, and culture. In a show note Kerby Jean-Raymond brought the high fashion and beauty culture connection full circle when he said of Madam CJ Walker “Black prosperity begins in the mind, in the spirit and in each other. She knew that no dollar amount could ever satisfy the price tag of freedom — that green sheets of paper & copper coins could never mend souls, heal hearts or undo the evil we’ve endured”; likewise Kerby Jean-Raymond’s Pyer Moss is using fashion to cultivate Black mental and spiritual uplift, one amazing design at a time.