Allow me to reintroduce you to Kyemah McEntyre, a 22-year-old artist and fashion designer from East Orange, New Jersey.
Four years ago, Kye and her majestic Angelina print prom gown went viral, because...well, just LOOK!!!
This is for always being labeled as, "ugly" or "angry". Thank God, stereotypes are just opinions. - Kyemah McEntyre✊🏾
Her Afrocentric take on an age-old (historically racist) American tradition challenged our nation's Eurocentric beauty standards and racial stereotypes, reminding folks that black is, and always has been, beautiful.
When European Ideals and standards of beauty mean absolutely nothing. 💕✊🏾 Instagram: @MindOfKye
And, as if that weren't enough, the high school student also sketched and designed the gown her own damn self! So it's no surprise that the prom queen (yes, she won the crown!) enrolled in fashion school the following fall...
Let's all REMEMBER.... Kyemah sketched and designed her own dress 😍😍😍
...juggling classes, homework, exams, and life, while also designing and hand-making custom looks for a bunch of celebs, like Danai Gurira, Naturi Naughton, Condola Rashad...
Mind Of Kye on the shoulders of @DanaiGurira , discussing her role for The Black Panther Movie ✊🏾🖤💛!!! Making Black History everyday baby! Danai you look stunning ⚡️😩 Thank you with my entire heart 🐞#BlackPantherMovie #BlackHistory #MindOfKye
...and herself, of course!
Wellllll, we're happy to report that Kye just received her bachelor's degree in fashion design from Parsons School of Design!!!
"After my prom dress went viral, my life was impacted in ways that I was both prepared and unprepared for," she told BuzzFeed. "To this day, strangers online and in person tell me that my designs inspire them to keep pushing forward despite societal expectations."
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"Every now and again, I’ll get someone saying they wish they could be like me, and I always tell them to be yourself," she added. "At the end of the day, my prom dress went viral because I wanted to be exactly who I felt like inside, not because I was trying to be someone else."
To showcase her four years of hard work, the recent graduate held an exhibition on the streets on New York City last weekend.
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And let me tell YOU, I'll be first in line whenever Kye drops that stunning cowrie shell top and those sickening flared bottoms.
She also plans to open a radical brick-and-mortar clothing store called Hueman in her Jersey hometown to provide more fashionable, expressive clothing options to residents.
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"Hueman is a clothing store, organized by color and powered by self-expression and community involvement," Kye told BuzzFeed. "I designed everything from the store's floor plan, visual merchandising, employee titles, and of course, the actual clothing designs. And all of the clothes will be remade through the process of upcycling scraps of fabric and thrifted clothes. It's sustainable, through the lens of a community."
Judging from the mock-up, it seems like shoppers will be able to pay for a portion of the items with community service hours. Brilliant!
