Five years have passed since fashion’s so-called reckoning. What once looked like a movement now feels more like a moment. Looking back, Antoine Gregory has a few things he wishes he could’ve told himself then.
“I would’ve told myself to make sure, whatever deals we were making, that we were making the companies more accountable for what happened next,” he says. “Black photographers were shooting their first major publication covers, but that’s all it was. They got one cover.”
“The industry wasn’t actually investing in the growth of Black photographers, stylists, and designers,” he continues. Their white counterparts, he says, were repeatedly commissioned, with clear support behind their development. What was missing wasn’t just one-off opportunities — it was long-term investment in Black creatives, in their talent, and in their careers.
Boyd-Griffith echoes the sentiment. Fashion, he says, reflects the current social-political climate — and like the world around it, it resists true transformation.
“We have addendums and things that give us hope. But I think, structurally, fashion is a white industry,” he says. “It’s set up that way, so it’s never going to be fully made for complete progress and diversity.”
For many Black creatives who were elevated five years ago, the shift has been undeniable — the headlines have faded, the promises have quieted. But the work? It never stopped. Sometimes it’s defiantly loud. Other times, it hums quietly in group chats, moves through independent runways, and breathes in self-funded photo shoots. The movement endures. Not for clout, not for trend, but because being Black in fashion means knowing the fight for visibility and equity isn’t seasonal. It’s lifelong. That unwavering commitment lives in the quiet echoes of those still pushing forward, even as the world around them slips back into old habits.
“When I look back at that time, it was very beautiful,” Boyd-Griffith says. “I loved seeing so many of us in spaces that I never thought were possible. We were the voices that championed Brandon Blackwood and Black Fashion Fair. I think it was very beautiful. I would just tell little Shelton to enjoy that moment because it’s not forever.”
