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Chelanti Frazier
February 5th, 2021 | Written By: Daniel Blanc
“Fashion is never wrong.” – Malcolm McLaren
Chelanti was born in raised in New York City and continues, to this day, calling the bustling metropolitan Harlem, her home. She grew up around many creative minds from various expression of art through music and design. One of Chelanti’s greatest inspirations is her mother that work in the fashion industry making great strives; “I wanted to be a designer since I was 9 years because [of] my mom… I wanted to be like her and I still do” Chelanti stated. Growing up Chelanti recalls many hard experiences being a plus size girl. Social standards were and are still grueling through the influence of mainstream media. Size and skin shade are the 2 of the greatest challenges young women of color unfortunately are forced to grapple with. This creates insecurities and shame in young women as the grow; being proud and comfortable in their skin is something they have to learn or relearn as a young adult
For Chelanti, she also noticed a great disparity in the lack of representation of plus sized women by the fashion industry. Heavy emphasis is place on showing women that are “slim” and having a “lighter complexion.” Either there were very little options for fuller women, or the options available seemed to be a mere after thought by the designers. “I grew up plus size and going to the plus size section where the ugly clothes outnumbered the ‘okay’ clothes whilst all the cool clothes were just across the aisle didn’t seem right.” Chelanti expressed. If the fashion world wanted to continue to undervalue wonderful women such as Chelanti, she knew that she would have to bring the change that she wanted to see.
In 2015, Chelanti graduated from the High School of Art and Design majoring in fashion design for 3 and a half years. During her time in high school, Chelanti had the honor of participating and aiding in the organization of the school’s very first fashion show in late 2014 to 2015. From there, Chelanti attended LIM College where she majored in Fashion Merchandising and earned her BBA; but Chelanti did not stop there. With the help of her mother, Chelanti launched her very own clothing brand called Miscellania Fashions. This clothing brand has a special focus catering towards plus sized women, making quality clothing that is beautiful and far from an after thought. On Miscellania Fashion’s website, you have the option to book a customized “one-of-a-kind” outfit for yourself. “Miscellania is a plus size brand that me and my mom design for together. We create art fashion and customize existing pieces. As I grow as a designer, I strive for sustainability and avant garde aesthetics” Chelanti excitedly exclaimed!
The deep passion Chelanti had for design further extends into her desire to make a statement with her fashion. It is such a powerful thing when we think about it; many eras in our history was greatly defined by what a person wears. High waist pants, bell bottom jeans, a variation of platform boots, a vest jacket; rings a bell? The description alone makes us think of the late 70s and 80s. Fashion is indeed a powerful tool and Chelanti knows this very well. In light of social injustices and the spotlight falling on various black movements, even calling into question stereotypes and labels, Chelanti calmly reminds black individuals out there that we are excellent. Chelanti designed her own jacket with a bold imprint reading “Black excellence” with the symbol of the movement plastered next to it (Reference the image at the beginning of this article). Even what you wear could become a social or political tool to send out a message. Sometimes the argument arises that what you wear doesn’t matter when on the contrary it does. If you are applying to work at a firm, your choice of clothing will be very intentional. You may not however feel the pressure to wear a suit and tie if instead you are applying to work at your local grocery store; one of three factors that affects a person’s first impression of you is what you are wearing (I would say this isn’t always fair, but that is just how the human mind works). Nevertheless, people such as Chelanti understand the importance of fair representation for all women; your skin shade or weight shouldn’t be a limiting factor.
Q + A Time
The fashion world is expanding rapidly, but still there is a major disparity in diversity. What have been some of your greatest challenges in the fashion industry?
“My greatest challenge in the fashion industry was feeling like I was being exploited while interning or volunteering. Even though it’s a common path to gaining experience in the fashion industry you agree to, I couldn’t shake off the feeling I was being used. When you have a job, you work for money. When you intern or volunteer, you work for knowledge. When the people who are supposed to provide the knowledge aren’t doing so, you’re just working long hours for free and stressed out. It happens too much, but I am so grateful for the great mentors I was lucky to get, and it’ll be my responsibility to be one once my brand expands.” – Chelanti Frazier
Have you ever seen your work as a tool that could make a social statement or rewrite social norms to create better inclusion in design? If you haven’t that is okay, but how do you think this can be done?
“We all know fashion is how we express ourselves, and as someone who’s shy, what I wear let’s the world know who I am without saying a word. Fashion is the perfect tool to make social statements, in my eyes, because it’s my artistic form of communication. Some of my designs are inspired by the BLM movement and black girl empowerment. My entire brand is for plus sized women because plus sizes are excluded from so many others and I want to do my part as a designer to fill that gap. That was always the plan.” – Chelanti Frazier
What is your advice for other young fashion designers out there?
“My advice to other young fashion designers out there is to trust your own design aesthetic because people, including teachers and mentors, might tell you your designs are no good or crazy. That’s the kind of stuff my favorite designers throughout history have dealt with and that’s what I’ve dealt with. Your designs are a representation of you… and PLEASE include plus sizes in your brands.” – Chelanti Frazier
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