
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Telfar
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!
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.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows
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Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images
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Fernando Leon/Getty Images for Pyer Moss

Fernando Leon/Getty Images for Pyer Moss

Fernando Leon/Getty Images for Pyer Moss
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Mireya Acierto/Getty Images

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Telfar

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Telfar
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Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Telfar

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Telfar

Joe Kohen/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows
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Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Telfar

Mireya Acierto/Getty Images

Randy Brooke/WireImage
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Randy Brooke/WireImage

Randy Brooke/WireImage

Randy Brooke/WireImage
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Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows

Joe Kohen/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows

Vanni Bassetti/Getty Images
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Joe Kohen/Getty Images

Albert Urso/Getty Images

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows
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Joe Kohen/Getty Images

Mireya Acierto/Getty Images