Fashion Designer Jason Christopher Peters brought his passion and purpose to New York Fashion Week!
Jason’s unique and thought provoking fashion show included models dressed up in “paper doll” outfits that were colorful and had an important message. His passionate form of activism was displayed on the symbolic flat clothing that featured messages such as “black lives matter, “pray for world peace,” “vote,” “love me please” and more.
Jason incorporated doll-like lashes on the models, as well as face paint in the shape of bedazzled hearts. His models walked to the heart-tugging song “What Was I Made For” by Billie Ellish, which was fitting featured in the Barbie movie and made the messages all the more powerful and emotional for viewers. The fashion show was accessible to all who walked by the Tribeca park during NYFW, as many bystanders stopped to smell the roses and left feeling impacted by Jason’s moving show.
Jason’s creativity and concept is both symbolic and relatable and overall eye opening to everyone who experiences it. He thinks outside the box and uses fashion to help us reflect on the bigger picture, which draws us all in closer to one another. He’s on a mission to preach joy, peace and healing with his love of fashion.
N: This isn’t the first time you’ve done this kind of unique fashion show. What is it about this form of art that makes you keep coming back?
J: Well, I am a true artist before anything. I love to create, draw paint, and just be as artistic as I possibly can. There’s a certain feeling of freedom and being free I feel when you are creating not only fashion, but fashion is art. I think the level of impact art as fashion has on people in the world is pretty big. I feel that my shows have a huge amount of influence that impacts people from all walks of life and all ages around the United States and the world.
N: You’re sending a powerful message with your fashion show. What do you believe your mission statement is with it?
J: I started in the industry in 2001 when I was a freshman attending Chico State University. Even with my first show I was always about impact. My first show was two months after the tragedy of September 11. I created a piece honoring the victims of 911 and the United States as a whole. You can say that using my platform to provoke thought and getting touchy or uncomfortable, but extremely necessary conversations to happen is what I hope people will get out of my shows.
I have always wanted to inspire, influence and impact the world and especially the youth and those who feel like they are “underdogs” in a world that is so critically and extremely judgmental. My shows are more than fashion. They are art with messages that are extremely important, powerful and beautiful. It’s like the models are “paper dolls” and then I create these beautiful messages which resemble clothing and the “paper doll” comes to life with a message that is relatable to millions and millions around the world. I also incorporate some of my streetwear lines and accessory lines into the art that I create with the messages. Even the hair and make up ideas are all my own, and I come up with every concept you see in the show, from the hair to the make up to the styling to the designing. Every aspect of it is from my heart and my mind.
N: Out of all your designs and messages, do you have a favorite and why?
J: To be honest, I love everything I create. From my streetwear, to couture, to accessory lines. I love it all. Every piece I create is special and so they are all my favorite, because the same amount of love, craftsmanship, heart and soul goes into each piece.
N: Do you have any designers that you look up to that are using fashion to send a message like you?
J: Alexander McQueen was a favorite of mine as well as Virgil Abloh, but they are both not on Earth anymore. Alexander and Virgil never allowed anyone to keep them in a box. They were innovative, different and powerful. They didn’t want to “fit in”with society. I can relate to them, both, especially Virgil, and on so many different levels. I will say that I was inspired by Virgil and Alexander’s way of thinking when it comes to fashion as art. For this show, I was inspired by Princess Diana and athletes, Tyrese Maxley and Lamar Jackson, amongst others, hence, why I created the “black athletes matter” piece with the crystallized accessory. I was also inspired by the real people of the world who may feel unseen, or may be unloved. I hope that the show and future shows for years to come, will always have a lifelong, everlasting impact on everyone and hold a special place in everyone’s hearts forever.
N: How did the idea of having the fashion show in a park come about and what is it about that particular park that makes you keep coming back to it?
J: Well, it all started around 2020 during the pandemic I didn’t want to stop creating and inspiring others, so one day it just came to me to do outdoor fashion shows in parks and outdoor spaces all over the United States. Not only did I do fashion shows but I did community events. I did art events events to inspire the youth etc., throughout this time. I wanted people to still feel like they could live life and not give up by anything. I’ve done shows outdoors all over the United States, including being the first designer in history to ever do a fashion show in front of the White House on Black Lives Matter Plaza. My next show however, I want to surprise everyone on the location and where it will be, so stay tuned because details will be coming soon.
Instagram : JasonCPeters
Website: JasonChristopherPeters.com