Mississippi Designer Takes Hoodvenchy to New York Fashion Week – Magnolia State Live

Finding a place in the fashion industry requires determination, dedication and, of course, an eye for design.

Just ask Vicksburg resident Raymond Banks, who recently returned from the Big Apple where he was one of the designers invited to attend New York Fashion Week.

Banks started designing bow ties, he said, and from there his love of fashion grew.

“I started designing in 2013. I made a bow tie for a Black History Month program at our church, and from that bow tie I catapulted into the fashion industry,” Banks said.

People started asking who made the bow tie, Banks said, and where they could get one.

“I was like, I made it,” he said.

Business took off for the young designer, and for the next five years, Banks made and designed unique bow ties.

In 2018, he launched his own brand Hoodvenchy, which earned him a spot on the runway.

Banks said the Hoodvenchy concept started as a joke, inspired by the name of the luxury brand Givenchy.

“It wasn’t supposed to be a brand at all,” he said.

But it turned out that Bank’s spoof of designer labels was well received.

“A friend at Jackson State asked me to participate in a fashion show with his modeling team and so I was like ‘I’ll do it,’ but I had to bring something different than what I usually do,” he said.

So, inspired by the luxury brand scandals plaguing the design world in 2018, Banks said, “You know what, I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to make fun of them, so I’m going to do Hoodvenchy.

“People loved the brand and loved the name,” he added. “And from there Hoodvenchy was born.”

One of the pieces that Banks designed for the Hoodvenchy brand included a leather coat that had a list of popular fashion brands with their names crossed out.

“It started with Gucci and Prada, Louis Vuitton and Fendi. Those names were crossed out, but I wrote Hoodvenchy at the bottom and circled it,” Banks said, adding that the design was meant to convey the message of “passing and canceling” the world’s leading designers and choosing Hoodvenchy instead. theirs.

For the New York show, Banks’ collection was titled, “Fall Semester at Hoodvenchy University,” and he described the 28-piece collection as streetwear that included tracksuits, hoodies and puffer jackets.

The entire collection is androgynous, Banks said, and can be worn by both men and women.

“This line was about comfort; nothing was restrictive and there was no avant-garde look there,” said Banks. “Everything was accessible everyday items.”

The Fashion Week event was held at the 99th Scott Studio in Brooklyn, New York.

Before New York Fashion Week, Banks said that in March he attended Los Angeles Fashion Week.

And now that he’s back home, plans are to have a runway show in Vicksburg.

“I’ve given LA my time, I’ve given New York my time. Now is the time for me to let the people of Vicksburg see those works up close. They can see a video — that’s fine and they can see pictures, but I want to let them see the clothes themselves,” he said.

Banks said he hopes to have the runway show sometime in October.