NYFW 2016: The Fab 5

Felice León

It is fashion week in the big city! It is a time for fashionistas, and celebrities, to see and be seen—come through, front-row fashion week seats!

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By now you've heard that the Yeezy season 4 show has come and gone (though not so well); we're rooting for you, Ye. There's always next year.

All jokes aside, being a fashion designer (one who meticulously creates a line of clothing—sometimes, even by hand) takes an immense amount of creativity, vision and discipline. So, yeah, creating a haute look—one worthy of the New York Fashion Week runway—isn't easy.

Allow us to introduce you to five black designers who made it to the mother of all fashion weeks. They are our NYFW 2016 "Fab Five": Carly Cushnie, Cushnie Et Ochos; Shayne Oliver, Hood by Air; Kerby Jean-Raymond, Pyer Moss; Telfar Clemens, Telfar; and Lamine Kouyaté, Xuly.Bët.

Whether they use fashion to address political and social-justice issues or to blur gender lines, these artists deserve your attention.

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Check out some of our NYFW 2016 Fab Five designers' work (note, some of the clothing in the slideshow is from previous seasons):

Felice León is multimedia editor at The Root.