token black girl

On Sept. 10 Token Black Girl author, Danielle Prescod, sat  with fashion giants and panelists: Costume Designer, Shiona Turini, Stylist & Travel Editior, Alexander Julian and UPS EVP & Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer,  Kevin Warren.

The talk, Black Excellence in Fashion: Championing Representation and Entrepreneurship, gave audience members a closer look at the journeys of these entrepreneurs; who started down an uncertain path and rose to prestige by their own merit and despite obstacles.

While Turini spoke about feeling physically isolated in her home, Bermuda, and her experience as an immigrant; Julian explained the magnitude of networking and building communities after getting too comfortable in his individuality and relying on work ethic alone. Offering a different perspective, Warren highlighted the importance of contributing to the arts and supporting artists of color; the way UPS became an official NYFW sponsor and presented three HBCU alums with $150,000 to execute  NYFW runway event, Big Motion: Featuring HBCU Alumni Designers: Undra Celeste New York, The Brand Label, and Chelsea Gray.

Although the talk served to motivate and inspire, the panelist didn’t shy away from speaking on the issues. “I have been in many spaces, or worked in many publications, where there were black employees and we really still have no voice. We really still have no power,” Turini recalled. “We would fight and watch people be inspired by our culture and inspired by the things we were partaking in but we were not getting appreciated the same.”

As for navigating up the ladder in such circumstances, Warren put it plainly. “Sometimes it’s about overcoming adversity,” the designer and creative entrepreneur explained later in the talk. “Understanding the rules of the role, understanding that performance is really, unfortunately, black life in corporate America.”

Relating to the others, Julian concluded by pointing out something the panel made crystal clear. “Black people care so much about fashion,” he asserted. “This is generational, this is in our blood, this is in our DNA and we are shut out so much from the industry just because we don’t know somebody, just because we haven’t had that open door and that always pains me.”