Chi Ossé: Bringing it Home

This is your second MET GALA! How does it feel to be here?

Chi— “It’s exciting! I think I might feel more comfortable at this one, as last year I was a little more nervous — almost like a fish out of water. That said, it’s always super exciting to go to fashion’s biggest night.

In terms of young people becoming comfortable in, not only their careers, but also in their own skin, what role do you think fashion can play in this — in terms of gender, race, and political relations?

[Fashion can serve as] one’s physical statement to the world in showing others how they want to be perceived for specific events or just who they are as a person. Fashion is so powerful and fun; it can be boundary breaking and not always in-terms of what’s being worn, but who’s wearing it and what they do.

What do your fashion choices say about your identity?

I think my fashion choices range. I mean, professionally, I do wear a suit and tie and I do enjoy that — I call it ‘Council Member Drag’ [laughs]. RuPaul says we’re all born naked and the rest is drag, and I mean that’s real! Everything we put on is a declaration of who we are and what we do and it’s fun sometimes to dress like a politician, but it’s also fun to be a politician and not dress like one. Fortunately, I have the freedom to dress freely, because I got here through the mandate of the people. It’s natural for me to highlight emerging black designers and to represent my queerness, through accessories.

Tonight, in particular, you’ll be wearing Advisry by Keith Herron. What’s the connection between Advisry, you, and your political message?

Keith is younger than me, but we’re both Gen-Z’s. He’s extremely talented and I love his approach to design and to the industry. He’s not afraid to be loud and to take up space. I think this correlates to my trajectory and my future. He — in addition to my peers in all fields — are the people who inspire me. They break through the barriers of age and other invisible barriers that have been placed by the ‘old-guard’.

From my perspective, young artist communities are going to be incredibly inspired by what you and Keith are doing. Not only for this MET Gala moment, but for your careers up to this point. How can policy be used to uplift these young artist communities?

Firstly, something I’ve seen as a career project is breaking down the misnomers that young people have with politics. A lot of young people find politics to be unengaging and unproductive to their futures and society as a whole. Politics today relies on the fact that young people are unengaged in national and local politics. It’s my goal to engage the communities that haven’t been engaged before and I feel that fashion is an ideal vehicle to reach people where they’re at.

Now bringing Keith into the conversation! What were some of the references used to create this incredible look?

KH— Well firstly, I am already a huge fan of the fabric tweed, and finding a way to democratize and masculinise the fabric has been one of my missions with previous seasons. Tweed always is deemed “owned” by Chanel and only for women. When given this opportunity, I figured it would be fun to directly reference Karl’s Chanel using black tweed and to reimagine one of his womenswear looks into menswear. I came into our first meeting with some sketches of looks, but we opted to open the Chanel catwalk book and pick out our favorite looks Karl designed during his tenure there. We landed on a look from Karl’s debut Haute Couture collection 1983. 

How was the creation of Chi’s look influenced by the black experience, if at all?

KH— Because the black experience is my experience, and my art is a reflection of my experience, naturally the brand is “influenced.” There are many direct references to the black experience, but direct or indirect, all of the art is black art.

So Chi, an easy question to end sign-off with: what’re you most looking forward to tonight?

I’m excited to collaborate with Keith and to support an emerging black designer. This night is a culmination of my interests and my beliefs and I’m proud to share it with Keith!