Kelvin Osaze - The Model Pushing Past Black Normatives In The Name Of Art

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to chat it up with Kelvin via instagram - It made sense to me to use our line of communication to break from all the maneuvering of this pandemic, and try to simply process and identify hope and opportunity in what has come of 2020 … For most, that notion seems empty or bleak, but I’ve learned since following Kelvin and a few others on instagram, the chance to grow is often found in our position of opposition.

Kelvin Osaze Shot By Christopher Marrs - Agency Chase Model Management

Here’s a snapshot of my conversation with @kelvin.osaze …

Noah: How has life been during COVID?

Kelvin: Life during COVID has been life altering. It at first was shocking and depressing from losing my job and watching New York become this ghost town. But as months past, I started to take more ownership of my life and searched for the silver lining in all the uncertainty. Being creative and having my small team with me is what kept me going and truly saved what could of been a year of loss. Now I’m finding a newness with myself and I am open to growth.

Noah: As a model and creative - paint a picture for our audience, what is life like as a black ,gay, male model?

Kelvin: As a black gay model, life for me is “life for me” if that makes sense. Life is what I make it. I moved to New York at the age of 18, so I had to grow up pretty quick. I found myself around various creatives who happen to be apart of the LGBT community. Being surrounded by so many vibrant and bold people allowed me to become a more confident version of myself. It always surprises me when people are taken back by how I choose to express myself in my art. Some may say its too risqué , too flamboyant , and outlandish. I just see it as me being my authentic self. Being a black gay creative for me feels liberating but at the same time there’s pressure. Pressure in needing to express yourself to a white society, that you are enough; what feels like having to explain my existence. having to explain why who I am and the art I produce is more than a hyper sexual view, but just what it is, art - expression, my expression. There’s pressure in having to break down toxic masculinity in the black heterosexual community. And pressure in lifting other black queers to being more loving and accepting of one another. This pressure is not a burden it’s just more so a responsibility that I have taken as a model. So it’s not only visuals that I am concerned with , I am also concerned with the social construct around intersectionality and cultural barriers that often limit those who look like me, talk like me, walk like me, or who simply identify differently.

Noah: How would you define androgynous fashion?

Kelvin: Androgynous fashion is breaking gender norms and roles. Understanding that you can’t have masculine energy without feminine energy. Being unafraid to rock opposites, rocking a long skirt with a full beard. Or having soft feminine features and rocking a suit . Its simple - this particular ask, for me, is the infusion of what simply feels good. I could wear grow a full beard, and I love it - but still love the feeling of a silk blouse or form feel of a good leather boot. Androgyny is the power of choice, the liberation from conformity

Noah: There’s been a increase in celebration of men embracing feminine fashion, What are your thoughts on this?

Kelvin: I love it! However I think we still have work to do, especially in the black heterosexual community . We shouldn’t wait for celebrities to give us permission in embracing feminine fashion. That’s part of the issue, many people have not invested enough time in asking themselves what feels good to them. And how do they want to express themselves.

Noah: How is it working with heterosexual men who has a more dated outlook toward gay men?

Kelvin: It’s laughable and sad at the same time. Google is a click way, and people are nearby. I just say do your research and also use people as a resource. Having these dated ideas of a sexuality is lame. Sexuality does not determine someone’s personality.

Noah: How are you impacting or contributing to the industry of fashion and its influence on evrey day lives?

Kelvin: I feel that I am impacting the industry by being my authentic self. It’s so weird because I see myself as a model but really I see myself as an artist. With being an artist I have been able to show more sides of me, I think people feel that in my work or at least can see that. I also think that I am impacting the industry as someone who has been called an “underdog”. Good people love to see an underdog win, and I think that encourages others to never give up and to seek more of themselves and to reach places that they may have never thought they could reach .

Noah: Through your lenses, what does the fashion industry look like post COVID?

Kelvin: Less involvement with agencies, and models will have to be more in control of their careers. I do feel that the models who stayed active and inspired during COVID will be stronger in there approach to the art . I hope COVID births more models who exercise more creative direction in their work. It’s amazing to tell someone else’s story ,but it’s even more amazing to tell your own. What does fashion do for history and culture? Fashion has and will continue to shape culture. I don’t care what anyone says about that. A lot of fashion from the past is coming back today with a bit of a twist. Fashion shows our evolution in the world. Fashion is that powerful!

For more from Kelvin Osaze, you can find him on instagram at @kelvin.osaze

Ib Kamara Celebrates "Future, Community, Beauty, and Blackness" in Browns' "Family Affair"

London-based retailer Browns launched its “Family Affair” initiative back in April, and now it revisits the project with help from the Sierra Leone-born stylist Ib Kamara.

Kamara has guest-edited, styled, and shot the latest series of photos for Browns, creating imagery that celebrates “future, community, beauty, and Blackness.” The result of the series is stark yet stunning, as the only limit was the boundaries of the current pandemic. Despite this, Kamara captures “a portrait of the future as it should be,” as Browns says.

“For every contributor I shot, I wanted them to feel their most beautiful; their most comfortable and most importantly, to let them speak to the camera. After all, with all that we have collectively gone through, there are so many questions I can ask,” said Kamara, adding that, “This project felt like a community of people coming together to have a celebration, to reconnect and to find a middle ground for love and acceptance. To re-tie the beautiful bond we all have and share.”

Browns added, “When we launched ‘Family Affair’, our aim was to champion our creative communities in the times we need one another the most. Ib’s work is a true testament to this goal. It is thus timely that in the midst of this project’s execution, we witnessed the dawn of the largest civil rights movement in recent history;” referring to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The photography spotlights numerous young Black people in pieces from JW Anderson, Alexander McQueen, Jacquemus, Martine Rose, Off-White™, and even headpieces from Ib Kamara himself. Take a look at the fourth and final “Family Affair” series captured by Ib Karama for Browns in the gallery above, and find out more about the project on Browns’ website.

Report: Amanda T Lou

Black Girl in a White World

For years now black women have had to begin adapting to the white culture being young in school and in the workplace. In the black culture, we’re used to having our own jokes and ways of speaking with certain slangs. Typically this is considered unprofessional or “ghetto” to white people.

This causes a black woman to have two different sides of her personality. She develops a persona that is acceptable or tolerable to her white peers in her place of employment. Typically in a corporate setting where black people, in general, make up a small percentage. Some black people have learned to adapt to their white surroundings at a young age and make it part of who they are to give off the “oreo” impression meaning white on the inside, black on the outside. This is how some black people climb the corporate ladder.

For those that don’t believe in conforming to the racially appropriate norms that have been created for them out of expectation this causes a negative effect on a black woman’s mental state. It creates an irritation that leads to some depression, anger, or stress because they feel they are discouraged from speaking their mind without being accused of being aggressive or hostile.

White women have a top tier ranking over black women. Society and the labor market have always had a negative view of black women which has given them a disadvantage in the workforce including negative results in employment practices.

Black women have become mentally defeated in being themselves. This has also lead to more black women becoming entrepreneurs and embracing their own identity of being black without being a threat. Many black women have chosen the path of owning their own business. For the women who don’t choose this path in life, it is important to know how to dominate your personality respectfully in the workplace. Act with authority and demand the proper treatment as you would anywhere else.

Black women must take their power by force, by any means necessary. To respect a black woman is to respect any other human being. The level of respect and fair treatment should not depend on how black a woman is. The black woman will be accepted.

Report: Josephine Coiscou

The Undervalued Beauty of Black Fashion

Afra

Black fashion businesses are brimming with underrated talent, and this period of revolutionary racial solidarity only further proves how deserving they are of financial support. Countless black fashion creators have crafted such fascinating, awe-inspiring designs, which makes purchasing these products a particularly rewarding form of equal rights advocacy amidst ongoing racial injustices.

Afra

The most noteworthy of these businesses are those that infuse black pride and Afrocentric aesthetics into their creations. Brother Vellies is a purveyor of handcrafted shoes and handbags from South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Morocco, and AFRA’s hair jewelry is modeled after that of ancient Egyptian royalty. Blk Mkt Vintage is the most brazen example of cultural pride, as it is a collection of artifacts of black history, including a t-shirt that reads, “Fight the Powers That Be with Black Unity.”

BLK MKT Vintage

With the nation in the midst of mass revolt, time will only tell what sort of systemic change will result from all this unwavering activism—and subsequently, how living through such a historic time will influence future black art.

Brother Vellies

Report: Nia Hunt