From Baby Phat to Fenty, Dapper Dan to Grace Wales Bonner, black entrepreneurs and designers have entered the fashion industry, at times not only causing great cultural shifts in representation, but complicating sectors of the industry such as luxury – a sector difficult to define, but often recognized by its inaccessibility and exclusivity. In this talk, organized as part lecture and part workshop, scholar, educator and writer, Rikki Byrd, will invite attendees to further complicate luxury fashion by specifically situating the black diaspora within her exploration. Byrd will pull from historical anecdotes referencing slavery and luxury clothing, media articles, designer interviews and more, to encourage attendees to think broadly about and beyond representation in the fashion industry, tackling the oft undefined, but ever more desired terrain of luxury fashion.