By Blythe Tokar
It’s been a month since our Season 003 T-skirt fashion show and I finally have time to reflect. This concept has been years in the making so seeing the culmination of all of the team’s hard work in a night that was so full of love and appreciation truly felt so fulfilling and like a major moment for sustainable design and Detroit-based fashion. The idea for a fashion show came to me as I developed the T-skirt, one of my original designs that has naturally become the best selling item year by year. The whole idea behind the garment began when I was repurposing any and everything I had left over from my vintage resale business and the concept of being more resourceful with less. Working with limited materials helps me maximize the design process, and the more simple it is to make, the more effortless it is for people to see themselves in the garment. My first attempt at making one was with an old Boston Strong T-shirt which I turned into a skirt just by cutting and using the entirety of the Vintage T - Kareuche even wore this T-skirt on the VH1 upcycling show, one of the first celebs to ever wear RAYA! This showed me that more people than I could ever imagine were interested in a piece like this.
This mindset is what really encouraged me to showcase the T-skirt on the runway - the Season 003 T-skirt fashion show was actually my first fashion show as a designer! I have produced many shows in the past when I wasn’t designing my own pieces, such as Detroit Fashion Weekend (DFW), which was a concept I developed in efforts to start a Detroit Fashion Week. I curated the list of designers and styled my portion of the show but really wanted to do something of my own that showcased my unique designs. So this was not only my first show in 3 years, but also my first show as Haus of RAYA which made it highly anticipated by many as it featured my T-skirt designs alongside some never before seen garments such as the Hard Rock cafe bubble dress and the Vixen T-dress for the finale look. I loved making the T-skirt collection because each piece is 1/1 and can never be duplicated. Anyone that walks away with it is essentially collecting a piece of my art that feels unique and special to them. We all know that the overconsumption of clothing is a huge problem, however, I believe that with the right research and development, we can solve this problem - that’s where the T-skirt comes in.
The show’s tagline ‘A natural resistance to a synthetic existence’ is the essential ethos of my brand; naturally rejecting the idea of using fake materials, plastic materials, and cheap labor just to make clothes for a profit. I believe that using natural materials and working with what we have, like repurposing garments or deadstock materials, will allow us to prevent clothes and fabrics from entering yet another landfill. Through the show and my designs, I’m trying to steer my customers away from the idea that they need to buy a new outfit or a new item every time they go out simply because it’s cost effective. I want people to wear my clothes not only because they feel cool wearing them but also because they feel good knowing a real person made their clothes thoughtfully, ethically, and with natural fabrics that are better for our skin. I want them to spiritually align and become part of the brand ethos: to become less wasteful in every aspect of our lives from the clothes we wear, to the furniture we buy, to the entertainment and even content that we take in. What we consume matters and the more we consume clothes like we consume coffee, the more harmful we become to our planet.
I started off teasing the show by sending custom mini Vendetta bags as a VIP invite to honor and show appreciation to my clients and all my biggest supporters since I started my business in 2020. I am so grateful for all of the people who have supported and believed in my vision and this invite to our show was my way of showing my unending gratitude for my best clients. Anyone with a VIP invite was able to sit in a front row seat with their name taped to the chairs as a way to make them feel special to me and the brand. Despite this VIP presence, I wanted to keep the vibe of the show lowkey and underground which is why I chose to do it on a street in the Eastern Market. Thanks to our friend Akash and Midnight Temple, I was able to use the whole street as my runway which is exactly how I envisioned it. The entire show was a huge success with attendees coveting every look that came down the runway. Each look was styled to fit a certain motif of a kind of RAYA customer so that everyone in attendance saw themselves reflected in our pieces: we embraced being an ‘It Girl’, subverted the traditional bride, and even developed a few looks for our growing male audience. The show ended as one of the models held a piece of cotton fabric in one hand and a piece of polyester fabric in the other as they were both lit on fire, showing the difference between natural versus synthetic fabric.
Natural fabrics will burn and ash like a cigarette while polyester will just melt and crinkle up since it’s just essentially plastic which is very unhealthy for us to wear. Through this demonstration, I hoped to pose the question to the audience ‘What if there was a biodegradable material that can not only break down and decompose back into the land but is also soft and cozy to the skin?’ In the current fashion landscape, most of our clothes are being made out of synthetic fabric and as a designer, I choose to work with only natural materials like cotton, leather, vintage denim, and silk. Not only did I immediately notice the difference I feel when I wear vintage or repurposed clothing versus something new, but I also noticed how much longer it lasted. Vintage clothes were made better to last longer, rather than to just wear a garment a few times and dispose of it. This is a modern day concept which I don't align with as a consumer or as a designer and feel like my mission is to bring the care and quality of how vintage clothes were being made into the present day. It’s my hope to maintain the luxurious and bold attitude of my clothes through design and shape but also through the materials and attention to detail in the manufacturing process.
The energy after the show was so electric as guests got to explore the pieces and creation process behind their favorite looks while shopping them in real time! It’s hard to choose my favorite part of the night because it was all such a success but this moment was so important to me. Seeing family, friends, clients, and new faces all come together under the same love for sustainable fashion inspired me so much and reassured me that there are still people out there who value the quality of their clothes and organic, authentic design. This is only the beginning for Haus of RAYA fashion shows as I can feel and see more in our future, always with an emphasis on sustainable creation, and I can’t wait to continue showing the world how to do more with less!