California Apparel News

In 2020, the veteran fashion designer and co-founder of Black Design Collective Kevan Hall was one of the first to respond to the need for personal protective equipment. Working with fellow designer Malena Ruth, Hall enhanced existing hospital gowns and created masks to protect workers and patients at area hospitals and nursing facilities. This work also led the designer to donate a mask to frontline workers for every mask sold to a customer.

“They are meant to protect patients and workers who are taking care of the most frail and vulnerable. They are worn by nurses and janitors,” Hall said. “Some aren’t even being paid. They are sacrificing. It was something we could do to support them.”

Following the May 25 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Hall used his voice in a June 12 opinion piece titled “Time for Real Change—Not Just an Instagram Post.” Published in California Apparel News, Hall shared his experiences as a Black designer working within an inequitable environment and challenged fashion to do better.

“Companies can improve the culture of their brands by providing opportunities for qualified Black candidates to excel and promote from within,” Hall wrote. “Young talent needs to be allowed to flourish while gaining the necessary experience to be successful.”

His Fall 2020 collection of celestial-inspired formalwear was an inspiration for the industry to find beauty and light in the darkness.

“For me, even though people are trying to be safe and so many events have been canceled, there are still those legacy moments where there is an opportunity for people to have something beautiful, because the photographs are forever,” Hall said.