"Black Beasts" (lace front bomber and fur chaps)

Designer Statement:
"Black Beasts" analyzes the speculation, exploitation, and animalization of the Black body throughout history. Presented through multifaceted mediums such as wearables, audio, and visual concepts, it embodies a conceptual realm based off of reality, where Black people exist as beasts for channeling the complexities of Black American rage, grief, and fear of racial violence. "Black Beasts" is an interrogation of the construct of race in order to seek justice. Skins are hides. What does the skin hide–what does the skin expose? This specific look from "Black Beasts" exaggerates the historical racial identifier of hair texture as a main physical attribute of the black beast character. It compares human hair to animal fur as a tactile representation of animal vs human.