DESIGNER JOHNATHAN HAYDEN RISING THROUGH THE RANKS IN FASHION

Fashion designer, Johnathan Hayden, The Art Institute of Dallas 2012 Alumnus, is being recognized for his work - a new face for the fashion industry as it confronts diversity and inclusion to promote genuine talent.

As the fashion and retail landscape dramatically shifts across America, the opportunity for emerging brands has attracted attention to his eponymous womenswear brand. Despite Covid-19, he has quickly shifted to producing masks for the NYC community in partnerships with local nonprofits. His “Made in America” approach to ethical manufacturing was awarded a small grant from NYC non-profit, Harlem’s Fashion Row’s ICON 360 initiative (a recipient of $1 million from The Council of Fashion Designers of America x VOGUE’s “Common Thread” $5 million fund), 1 of 27 designers of color allocated funding. He credits The Art Institute for his equipping him with a strong technical design and production background developing quality design as the industry confronts demands for social consciousness amongst global environmental and racial equity concerns. Featured this month in Vogue Mexico’s editorial on young design talent, he speaks to the rigor and patience it has taken to make is stake in the international fashion industry:

"I may have been naïve to leap into the title of Fashion Designer, but like I said earlier, I was raised with a strict sense of duty to a greater whole—building community. So when I ‘found’ my brand, that sounds like it was an accident, something to happen by chance. But the truth is I have forged this brand. When asked, I point to everything around me in my studio and say, “This wasn’t built because of a ‘yes’. Everything you see exists despite every exclusionary ‘no’,” for whatever reason. I don’t know what the future looks like, but I know what I am trying to work towards. I’d like to see fashion truly exercise inclusion to reimagine what that means. To me, that’s listening to more voices and then, as a fashion designer, using my brand as a lens for that idealism to aspire towards."

Johnathan Hayden is a luxury designer label founded in 2016 having debuted its first collection at Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO in October 2019. The New-York based hybrid-designer unites his interest in technology and fashion to create luxury clothing with adaptive details. Hayden has worked with nonprofit organizations like non-profit Open Style Lab at Parsons specializing in inclusive clothing for people with disabilities and continues to explore meaningful applications of technology in design showcased at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

AiLive host, E. Vincent Martinez, speaks with Johnathan Hayden, a NYC fashion designer, creative consultant, textbook illustrator and Art Institute of Dallas graduate.

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Tracy Reese Spring 2018 RTW

“The woman makes the clothes.”

Tracy Reese

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Tracy Reese presented a collection for Spring 2018 that was bold in color and rich in prints. Featured were wide-legged pants, flowing dresses and over-sized suits - all very chic, very modern and very wearable. But Tracy Reese did much more than present a beautiful collection - she sent a clear-cut message about diversity and how the fashion industry needs to embrace dressing all women. Her models ranged in age, ethnicity and size.

The models were speaking to the audience though we couldn't make it all out, so what were they saying? Tracy told Vogue: “I wanted them to tell their stories about their journeys, their dreams, and their aspirations, in whatever language felt most natural to them." This action just made an already strong presentation stronger and authentic.

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TYRA BANKS, TRACEY AFRICA, GEENA ROCERO, AND DIVERSE WOMEN OF COLOR FROM AROUND THE GLOBE APPEAR ON THE COVER OF NEW HARPER’S BAZAAR INDIA

Art Director and Executive producer, Christopher Sollinger, cast various industry icons, veterans, and new faces for the historic cover series of the next edition of “Harper’s Bazaar India.” Nine versions of the magazine will be available, each featuring a different woman of color on the cover including Tyra Banks as well as Tracey Africa and Geena Rocero, who become the first transgender women to appear on the cover of the iconic Harper’s Bazaar. Sollinger produced the shoot over the course of a week in New York.

'The Nine Wonders of the World’ cover series is a twist on the unofficial title sometimes given to those new buildings, structures, projects or even designs that are deemed to be comparable. The series interprets and showcases this "new" as diversity. The new being that diversity is acceptable and celebrated today.

“Diversity has always been the DNA of Harper’s Bazaar. The Indian edition is delighted to follow in such illustrious steps”, said Harper’s Bazaar India Editor Nonita Kalra.

 “Showcasing white woman after white woman on covers does not work anymore, we need to show the women of the world that is of now,” said Sollinger. “The world is changing and with this story we want to be apart of that global revolution.”

“This cover means the world to me and for me to represent my community, it is such a humbling experience for me, I can't thank Christopher and Harper's Bazaar for allowing me to be on the cover,” said Tracey Norman. 

“It is an honor to be on this historic cover series with the women that I’ve looked up to. Growing up in the Philippines I used to dream of being on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar”, said Rocero.

The Models:

·      Tyra Banks is a veteran and icon to the runway and various leading advertising campaigns.

·      Tracey Africa is the first trans model to have multiple beauty campaigns in the 1970s. Tracey was also shot by Irving Penn for Vogue Italia.

·      Geena Rocero is a Filipino American model, producer, founder of Gender Proud and gave a viral Ted Talk with 3 million views. She was honored this year with a GLAAD Media Award for the Logo digital series ‘Beautiful As I Want To Be,’ which she executive produced and appeared in.

·      Hannelore Knuts is a veteran Belgian model and known to be the only model in history to have three consecutive Vogue Italia covers.

·      Cora Emmanuel is a Caribbean beauty and has been the face of Chanel.

·      Emanuela de Paula was born to a white Brazilian mother and an Afro Brazilian father, She has been the face of retailer NEXT and L'Oreal.

·      Pyper & Daisy America showcase Millennials in our new modern age, unorthodox beauties who have gained notoriety through social media and shear personality. It is the first time the sisters of Lucky Blue were shot together for a cover.

·      Hind Sahli is one of the few Muslim models to break out of Morocco. Hind was voted by Vogue Italia as "the top middle eastern model of our generation."

·      Soo Joo Park is the leading Korean Model and an inspiration to all designers. Soo Joo has been the face of countless magazine covers and beauty brands.

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