Caribbean Designers In ESSENCE’s Eternal Aura July/August Fashion Spread
At this season’s New York Fashion Week, ESSENCE Fashion House marked its 55th anniversary with Eternal Aura, a celebration of Black fashion’s lineage—an arc that honors the past while boldly shaping the future. The theme underscored the idea that style is never just about clothes; it is memory, protest, resilience, and joy stitched into fabric.
As part of this celebration, ESSENCE dedicated its July/August fashion spread to a group of Black designers whose work spans the 1980s to today. Within that lineage, Caribbean-rooted creatives emerged as some of the most defining voices—designers who carry heritage as strategy, and identity as innovation.
Rachel Scott
Jamaican-born Rachel Scott’s Diotima sits at the intersection of heritage and modernity. Her hand-crocheted details, produced in collaboration with Jamaican artisans, fold traditional craft into the vocabulary of global luxury. Scott’s appointment as Creative Director of Proenza Schouler underscores both her individual ascent and the industry’s recognition of Caribbean artistry as a luxury driver.
Grace Wales Bonner
With her British-Jamaican heritage, Grace Wales Bonner has created a fashion house where design is inseparable from research. Since launching her label in 2014, she has reimagined European tailoring through the lens of Afro-Atlantic narratives, often working at the intersections of art, literature, and music. Her intellectual rigor has translated into cultural capital, positioning her brand as one of the most influential of her generation.
Maximilian Davis
British-Trinidadian designer Maximilian Davis’s rise is one of the most significant business shifts in recent fashion memory. Appointed Creative Director of Salvatore Ferragamo in 2022, he has injected the Italian house with a modern sensuality that speaks to Gen Z and millennial consumers while preserving the brand’s heritage. Davis’s trajectory signals the luxury industry’s increasing reliance on diverse voices to remain culturally relevant.
Bianca Saunders
London-based designer Bianca Saunders, of Jamaican descent, has redefined contemporary menswear with fluid tailoring and subtle draping. Her approach challenges static ideas of masculinity and has positioned her as part of a new wave of British design talent capturing international attention. Saunders’s work illustrates how diasporic Caribbean perspectives can shift fashion’s codes from within Europe’s luxury hubs.
Edvin Thompson
Brooklyn-based, Jamaican-born designer Edvin Thompson channels migration stories into the DNA of his label Theophilio. Known for vibrant colors, upcycled materials, and unapologetic storytelling, Thompson’s work resonates with both Caribbean pride and global youth culture. His collections are increasingly seen as cultural documents, proof that heritage-driven design can capture fashion’s most progressive consumers.
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