Fashion is more than clothing—it reflects culture, identity, resistance, creativity, and the times we live in. Each generation leaves its signature.
The 1950s brought polished postwar glamour shaped by houses like Chanel and Dior. The 1970s embraced individuality through bold prints and bell-bottoms. By the 1990s, Karl Kani, FUBU, and other Black-led brands brought streetwear and hip-hop culture to a global stage.
So what defines this generation? A new wave of Black designers is answering that now. They are building culturally rooted brands that aren’t bound by tradition, experimenting with silhouettes, luxury, streetwear, sustainability, technology, gender, heritage, and storytelling—creating fashion that reflects today and shapes tomorrow. And they aren’t waiting for permission. Today’s designers are ambitious, innovative, and culturally aware, building on a powerful legacy while creating their own.
At Black Fashion Week USA, documenting them is just as important as honoring the legends who came before. We’re spotlighting five Black designers under 40 shaping the next chapter of Black fashion. Five designers. Five perspectives. Five brands to watch. All Black-owned. All on their own terms. All contributing to the culture. Meet the next generation.
1. Ngoni Chikwenengere
Brand: We are Kin
Photos of Ngoni Chikwenegere,
via BBC.com
Photos courtesy of We Are Kin,
via wearekin.co and @wearekin.co on Instagram
For Ngoni Chikwenengere, great fashion isn’t about chasing the next trend—it’s about creating pieces with staying power. The Zimbabwe-born designer behind We Are KIN has built a slow-fashion label around thoughtful design, strong silhouettes and a more responsible approach to getting dressed.
Founded in 2016, We Are KIN turns sustainability into part of the creative process. Chikwenengere works with end-of-line and responsibly sourced fabrics, transforming materials that might otherwise go unused into contemporary, made-to-order garments. Clean lines, architectural shapes and timeless silhouettes give the collections a sense of refinement without relying on passing trends.
The result is fashion designed to live beyond a single season. Chikwenengere proves that sustainability doesn’t have to sacrifice style—and that slowing fashion down can produce some of its most forward-thinking ideas.
Why We’re Watching: Chikwenengere is helping redefine what modern luxury can look like when sustainability, longevity and strong design share equal billing.
Shop the Designer
Web| www.wearekin.co
IG| @wearekin.co
2. Igdaliah Pickering
Brand: IGDALYAH
Photos courtesy of IGDALYAH.COM
Photos courtesy of hanifa.com
At just 22 years old when she launched her namesake brand in 2020, Igdaliah Pickering, known throughout the fashion world as “Iggy,” was already carving out her place among a new generation of Black designers. A former lead designer for luxury womenswear brand Hanifa and founder of IGDALYAH, Pickering brings a distinctive point of view shaped by culture, experimentation and her Caribbean roots.
Born and raised in the Virgin Islands, Iggy infuses her collections with a vision of Caribbean futurism—honoring where she comes from while imagining where fashion can go next. Through knitwear, denim and familiar everyday materials, she revisits past trends and transforms them into contemporary pieces designed to transcend generations.
From intricately constructed knit dresses to creatively reworked denim, IGDALYAH demonstrates how heritage and innovation can coexist in the same garment.
In 2026, her growing influence earned her a place among five designers selected for the Gap x Harlem’s Fashion Row denim collaboration, introducing her Caribbean-inspired perspective to an even broader audience.
Designer, creative and fashion “It girl” in her own right, Iggy is still at the beginning of her story—and IGDALYAH is a name worth watching.
Why We’re Watching: Pickering is translating Caribbean identity into a futuristic fashion language all her own—and she’s doing it while still in the early chapters of her career.
Shop the Designer
Web| igdalyah.com
IG| @igdal.iah
FB| @igdalyah
3. Sheila Rashid
Brand: Sheila Rashid
Photos courtesy of Sheila Rashid,
via sheilarashid.com and @sheilathedesigner on Instagram
Chicago doesn’t just produce style—it produces designers who know how to make people step out differently. Sheila Rashid is one of them.
A Kenwood Academy alumna, designer and stylist, Rashid has spent more than a decade developing a signature that effortlessly moves between luxury and streetwear. Her approach to unisex fashion feels distinctly Chicago: confident, individual and unwilling to be boxed into traditional categories.
Her evolution has unfolded alongside some major cultural moments. In 2010, she introduced a 30-piece collection to her hometown. By 2016, her custom overalls for fellow Chicagoan Chance the Rapper helped turn a utilitarian staple into an instantly recognizable part of his style. Today, Rashid’s influence continues into professional sports, where WNBA players have embraced Black-owned and gender-fluid fashion as the tunnel has increasingly become its own runway.
What makes Rashid’s work resonate is her ability to evolve without abandoning her point of view. From music to street culture to sports, she continues to demonstrate that some of fashion’s most influential ideas don’t have to come from the traditional fashion capitals.
Sometimes, they come straight out of Chicago.
Why We’re Watching: Rashid continues to push Chicago streetwear forward, connecting fashion, music and sports while building a design language that is unmistakably her own.
Shop the Designer
Web| www.sheilarashid.com
IG| @sheilathedesigner
4. Lisette Scott
Brand: Jam + Rico
Lisette Scott,
Photos courtesy of The Visitation Voice
Photos courtesy of jamandrico.com
With Jam + Rico, founder and designer Lisette Scott doesn’t simply create jewelry—she creates a wearable celebration of the Caribbean diaspora.
Founded in 2016, the New York-based brand draws inspiration from the people, colors, landscapes, music and traditions of the Caribbean. Collections inspired by destinations and cultures including Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Aruba and Cuba allow customers to wear pieces that connect fashion with heritage and identity.
But Jam + Rico’s cultural storytelling extends beyond the jewelry itself. Through destination experiences, pop-ups and community-centered events, Scott has created a brand world where fashion, travel, music and Caribbean culture meet. That approach transforms the traditional designer-customer relationship into something more personal: a shared cultural experience.
Scott’s vision has helped Jam + Rico expand through collaborations and industry recognition while remaining rooted in the culture that inspired it.
Bold, colorful and unmistakably Caribbean, Jam + Rico reminds us that jewelry can do more than accessorize an outfit—it can carry a story.
Why We’re Watching: Scott is expanding the definition of a jewelry brand by transforming Caribbean heritage into wearable storytelling, community and experiences that connect the diaspora.
Shop the Designer
Web| www.jamandrico.com
IG| @jamandrico
5. Nia Thomas
Brand: Nia Thomas
Photos courtesy of Nia Thomas, via niathomas.co
Photo by Nicole Steriovski, via Whitewall, courtesy of Nia Thomas
There is something unmistakably intentional about Nia Thomas. Her namesake label sits at the intersection of craftsmanship, conscious luxury and a deeply considered relationship with the natural world.
Working with artisan communities, including craftspeople in Mexico City and Lima, Thomas approaches fashion with an emphasis on ethical production and materials selected with both the wearer and the environment in mind. Plant-based, biodegradable and thoughtfully sourced textiles become elevated garments that feel luxurious without disconnecting beauty from responsibility.
And the fashion world has taken notice.
Her designs have appeared in major fashion publications, while cultural style-setters including Tracee Ellis Ross have brought the brand into an even wider spotlight. Yet Thomas’s appeal extends beyond celebrity placement. The strength of the label lies in its ability to make sustainability feel sensual, sophisticated and desirable.
Thomas represents a generation of designers asking a different question—not simply What do we want to wear? but How do we want our clothes to exist in the world?
For Nia Thomas, fashion can be beautiful, culturally connected and environmentally conscious all at once.
Why We’re Watching: Thomas is making a compelling case for a new kind of luxury—one where craftsmanship, global artisan traditions and environmental responsibility aren’t trends, but foundations.
Shop the Designer
Web| niathomas.co
IG| @niathomas.co
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