Dreaming in Technicolor: Advisry

How's all the prep going?

I believe well, yeah.

What's the creative process been like?

Typically I start with a larger concept and with this collection I probably got the idea of doing technicolor before the last one ended. So from there it's a lot of research and a lot of jotting down every idea that comes to mind, and then sort of weeding out the bad ones and developing the good ones. So I want to say around March or April is when I started actually sketching. Before it was just really rough sketches and I worked on that in New York, and then when I went to Paris, I developed the collection itself to kind of complete it and make it well-rounded and cohesive. So yeah, I guess that's been the design process. It's probably been the span of a year.

Was there a reason you did that finalization in Paris rather than New York?

Paris is really cool and fun (laughs).

Enough said. Were there any songs or albums you had on repeat during the design process?

Yeah, definitely. So there's a playlist that I'm doing with Spotify that coincides with this collection release, and within that it has a lot of the songs that inspired the process of not only this collection, but kind of just the road to getting here. There's a specific song called ‘Technicolor’ by Sunni Colón that I really liked a few years ago. It was one of my favorite songs, but one of the bases of the collection was that song. And that was one I always knew I wanted to include in the collection somehow. But yeah, other than that was listening to a lot of Snail Mail, anything by the Neptunes all the time. Yeah.

What's a typical day in the studio been looking like lately? If there is a typical day?

Oh, there's no typical day. I would say the most typical thing, I try to go to the cinema every day and there's this ice cream place called Morgenstern’s in the West Village, and I've been trying every single flavor and there's 55 flavors, so I try my best to go to Morgenstern's every single day. But other than that, it's just literally being on call and ready to go. I just got to my friend's place right now, and then my seamstress texted me like, “oh, you got to go to do a fitting now.” And then I thought I was doing casting. So it is just kind of bouncing around, being responsive and being able to be adaptable in the day because it's so unpredictable.

Is going to the cinema for inspiration or to relax and have time away from the design stuff?

A little bit of both. I try my best to not put on the filmmaker lens when I'm watching the movies, it might ruin the experience if I'm thinking too hard about the craft of it. But it's a little bit of both. It depends on what I'm watching. Yesterday I did a double feature with ‘Space Jam’ and ‘The Incredibles’, so that was just a really fun day. And then sometimes it's like I'm watching a film that requires much more attention and, I guess, thoughts.

You're a lot younger than a lot of the designers at Fashion Week. Do you feel that's a disadvantage or do you think maybe you're more tapped into the culture than a lot of these older designers?

I would say it is really interesting because the demographic that I come from or the community that I try to serve, they're not necessarily at the point where they're able to buy or really take part in fashion because of the monetary barrier. So it's a weird thing where I would love to appeal to my audience, but it's not that easy because that audience isn't necessarily the people who can sustain my business presently. So I would say that's a large disadvantage if that's who you want to cater to. But the advantage is that's exactly what all of these older brands are going for, and it's just something that comes very naturally to me because it's real. I’m actually 23, so I understand that consumer. 

Another disadvantage is a lot of the gatekeepers of fashion, they're not sure if I'm going to continue my brand or quit in a year or something like that, even though I'm very dedicated. But that's just the way the business goes. So it takes a really long time to get regarded in the way that you would want regardless of what you're doing, because I'm so young and they see a lot of young designers end up not continuing what they're doing. So I would say that another disadvantage is time. Fashion is definitely an industry that values longevity. 

What things do you think will be important for Advisry to maintain longevity in the industry?

Consistency, community. Just maintaining and fostering the energy we have around the brand and the community that we've built, and continuing to champion other artists and other people adjacent to us.

Do you think Black designers have a responsibility to push for change in the fashion industry? Or is that an unfair expectation?

I would say it's definitely unfair. However, I don't think anyone, if you're being creative, should be responsible to have a specific message. I think it should always just be whatever your personal expression is. And I feel like the people who feel that they have to say something, even when they don't necessarily have something to say, it feels a little forced. And I don't necessarily think that's what the community even needs is people discussing things that they don't have ideas on. So I would say it's unfair for that to be considered a responsibility.

I think the only thing artists should be responsible for is creating art that they love and want to actually create. But I understand that because it's such a big platform and it's a minority within that platform, it feels like that's what you should be doing. But I think it should always just be authentic expression. So if that's what you want to be doing, then awesome. And if not, then also awesome.

You've referred to this upcoming show as your ‘Graduate Collection’. How do you think it compares to previous seasons?

Over the past few collections I've been kind of developing a specific silhouette that I have for my man, and then my woman has been developing as the last collection was my first womenswear, and that was kind of an exploration in itself. So I think with this one, I'm continuing a lot of the design language that I had started, but also evolving it into a new realm that it hasn't yet been seen by anyone else. So I guess that's how the conversation connects is through silhouettes and then obviously specific motifs that I've done throughout my design career. So yeah, I guess it's just a continuation of the conversation, but trying to elevate the conversation itself.

Do you think Advisry would look different than it does now if you’d had a formal education in fashion design?

Oh yeah, definitely. I don't know if I would be doing this if I had a formal education when I first started. Obviously I came from a streetwear background, so I was designing t-shirts and hoodies and stuff like that. 

If I had a formal education and I go to class and they're like, “okay guys, I want you guys to make a dress”, even though I'm making dresses today I feel like that would've dissuaded me from the fashion industry at large if I was forced to work on something that I didn't necessarily want to work on, or hadn’t gotten to the point of even being curious about by myself independently. 

So I think formal education would not have served me well. Also, I do notice a lot of fashion students are more so working towards working for a larger company and building a portfolio to exist within another ecosystem. And I think one of the larger reasons why I've been able to take this leap is because I had no professors dissuading me saying, “It's impossible” or pretty much being like, “well, this is the easiest way to have a career in fashion.”

I feel you. I always had to make things I didn't want to and I think that's a big part of why I ended up moving away from design. I feel like it’s discouraging in a way.

Yeah, definitely. I couldn't imagine that. I had no idea I would ever want to make dresses until two or three years ago.

Until the idea comes freely and comes to you naturally.

Yeah.

Is there something you want to say with this show and collection? Is there a message you want to get across?

So the collection motif is technicolor, and within the collection it's kind of going through the history of cinema, of moving image through aesthetic technology. So when it starts, it's like black and white, and then technicolor is a very specific period within that canon. And that collection theme is epitomizing the growth of the brand itself. So I guess the message that I really want to say with it is, ‘this is Advisry and it's going to be here for a lot longer. It's going to be here for a very long time and this is what it'll look like.’

Is there anything you've learned about yourself through the design process?

I'm sure that answer will continue to unravel as this process goes along and as I'm able to take myself out of the equation and take a step back and look at the collection overall. So I can't name anything off the top of my head. I've been so in it, but I think the moment I'm able to step back and really analyze it or hear other opinions and things like that, I think there will be some revealing things. Or even maybe years down the line, I'll notice something and I'll be like, oh wait, that came from this.

Is film something you'll go into more in the future?

Oh, definitely. Definitely. That's one of my biggest goals is to start making feature films.

Is that something you’d take time off fashion to do?

Yeah, definitely. For sure.

What do you think the future holds for Advisry?

The overall goal is to exist within the fabric of culture. That makes up everything that we get inspired and influenced by. I just always wanted to contribute to that. So I guess the future of Advisry is just being able to directly impact and tap into culture.