Photo Credit: Didier Baverel/WireImage
Kanye West has been described as many things in recent years but what often gets forgotten is the amount of contribution to the arts as a whole he’s made. He’s in his 5th year of having his Yeezy label in existence and has so far been the springboard for Louis Vuitton’s Virgil Abloh, Fear of God creator Jerry Lorenzo, archivist David Casavant and stylist Ursina Gysi. He’s now seeking to take his mentorship skills and making a full time program out of it, introducing a new incubator that will provide financial assistance and mentorship to those aspiring in fashion, design and other creatives. He’s already picked the first person to receive a grant, Chicago native Maisie Schloss who used to work on the Yeezy womenswear team.
“Yeezy is a really special environment for growing and developing a career. When I started I was just an assistant, but the highly creative and unconventional atmosphere allowed for me to have visibility and input in a wide variety of projects,” Schloss said. “Kanye very generously offered to support me; he truly cares about sharing resources, creating opportunities for creatives to grow and be recognized.”
Her brand Masie Wilen will be out next week in L.A. being launched at a friends and family event where she’s presenting a collection with 85 pieces ranging from $100 to $950 and will have an event in Paris later in the month.
“My first collection is inspired by rhythmic gymnastics and robotics, specifically studying how elegant fluidity emerges from rigid systems. Strongly driven by print, the clothes themselves are playful and fashion-forward but rooted in very wearable shapes,” she said.
Giving back to the community fostering the next generation of creatives is a great way to have your own in house set of people loyal to your brand as well as helping see their dreams come to fruition. Kandi Burruss did an interview recently where she talked about how many in the black community are first generation wealth who didn’t have anyone around to either teach them the tricks of the trade or offered that boost they needed to get to the next step which is all some need.
