The State of Fashion Address... *Cues Presidential Band Music*

Being from the DMV area Fashion matters. The world may not know it yet but fashion matters so much in our area's culture. There aren't many fashion icons coming out of our city in comparison to NY or LA or even Chicago which seems to have made a huge imprint in the fashion world as of late with Virgil Abloh, DonC, JoeFreshGoods, and oh yeah Kanye West, but that doesn't mean we don't want a say so in whats hot and whats not. I see a lot of trends begin right in DC/MD and Seeing MD kids like Jay IDK walking in NYFW and Kelow basically the face of the reemergence of Champion. Its a beautiful thing and I believe our area's style has so much more to give the fashion world. I see the inspiration and similarities everyday from things we've done ten plus years ago. Adversely I've also seen how our area has taken on other cities styles and got lost in the sauce so to speak. For example like how I'm hearing DC rappers say "Cap/No Cap" instead of "No stunt", or "you welling", or however you interpret the saying, a lot of monkey see monkey doing going on but I digress.

 Taking the taste that the fly kids create and turns it into a contest of likes and cosigns is something Im not a fan of. Seeing brands being started everyday and pushed onto influencers trying to get the attention from hypebeasts following and liking every post as if the Influencer has a magic wand to make the clothes you gave them for free worth the hyped price on your site; that you charging regardless of shitty quality. Kind of how Vlone got away with using Gildan tees up until Ian Conner exposed them. Or how 2Chainz ran it up and made a mil selling Gildan Xmas Sweaters a few years back by gifting one to every social media influencer before hand for promo.  Social Media Influencers have taking over the power of brands and how they're marketing and can possibly change the taste of a generation. Now I probably will come off as a hater to some because I don't have as many followers and with everything being a popularity contest instead of talent speaking for itself, but I call it how I see it. Ive been apart of this culture way before many of you knew what the difference between haute couture and Streetwear was, and to see the two fusing together now is amazing and enticing as a Designer and Stylist.

Growing up I wanted to be a stylist I wanted to be the guy behind the scenes that could get his hands on any and every brand or garment on the face of the planet. Seeing brands like Louis Vuitton and Supreme collaborate was but a dream 5 years ago and I never thought I'd see stylist get just as much attention as their clients do now. I Also never thought orthopedic shoe silhouettes would catch on *Shrugs* wins and losses. But as a whole I believe our culture is moving forward and allowing more and more people that look like us into the fashion world. I'm excited to see where things will go from here. I love seeing trends unfold, I love creating and I still dream of working with Haute Couture Fashion Houses but I also love the Underground. GoonMilk has its own cult-like following and the support feels genuine. I don't have to be fake to some lame blogger to get sales, or throw a pop up every day of the week, over-saturating the market and watering down my product. Im doing things my way and making it work with what I have. Staying Humble and Hungry and still Getting Out Of Negative Situations.