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‘From a jail cell to the runway:’ NYFW closes with show starring formerly incarcerated women
By
Jessy Edwards
Published Sep 17, 2023
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Daniel Emuna
By
Jessy Edwards
Published Sep 17, 2023
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A block in Harlem transformed into a fashion runway on Saturday night in an event where formerly incarcerated models were the stars of the show.
Fashion designer Edwing D'Angelo teamed up with the criminal justice advocacy organization A Little Piece of Light for a streetside fashion show that put dozens of models down the runway who were either formerly incarcerated or have family members behind bars.
The event was held outside D'Angelo's shop on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, and ran from 131st to 132nd streets. Hip hop and house music echoed down the block as the sun began to set, and neighbors cheered on the models from their open windows above.
Scenes from a streetside fashion show that put dozens of models down the runway who were either formerly incarcerated or have family members behind bars.
Daniel Emuna
Before stepping out in a diamante-studded denim jacket and kilt, A Little Piece of Light housing manager Audrey “AJ” Johnson, 59, said the moment felt like experiencing a “lost dream.”
“I'm looking back and I'm like, ‘Wow,’” she said. “From a jail cell, to walking down a runway in New York Fashion Week? Oh, man. How great it is.”
Johnson said she was a little girl with “a lot of dreams, a lot of hope,” before growing up in an environment rife with poverty and crime saw her take the wrong turn. She served 10 years at New York’s Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, and has been home 25 years.
Melanie Glenn, 54, also served time at Bedford Hills. She strutted the runway in denim shorts and a red shirt alongside models in graffiti-inspired prints and voluminous silhouettes styled with slicks of neon eyeliner, long braids, boom-boxes and sneakers.
“It means a lot because it shows that next woman who is in prison that your life can continue, and you can be a positive impact on the people around you and also your community,” Glenn said.
Scenes from a streetside fashion show that put dozens of models down the runway who were either formerly incarcerated or have family members behind bars.
Daniel Emuna
Designer D’Angelo — whose clothes have featured on the cover of Vogue Mexico and have been worn by stars like Tyra Banks and Patti LaBelle — said he wanted to raise awareness of how communities of color are disproportionately affected by mass incarceration.
Black and Hispanic people made up almost 90% of New York City jail admissions in 2021 despite only comprising 52% of the city’s general population, a 2023 report by John Jay College’s Data Collaborative for Justice found.
Scenes from a streetside fashion show that put dozens of models down the runway who were either formerly incarcerated or have family members behind bars.
Daniel Emuna
D’Angelo said the issue was close to his heart. His brother — who passed away several years ago — was incarcerated at age 17.
“I truly believe that situation shaped him into his demise,” he said. “You could tell that something was ripped from him after he came home from being in jail. And there were no tools or mechanisms to help him rehabilitate.”
A Little Piece of Light is an organization that advocates for change to the criminal justice system and assists people directly affected by the criminal justice system, including helping formerly incarcerated women find housing and work after release.
Founder Donna Hylton — who served 27 years behind bars after being incarcerated at age 20 — said she hoped the event would help society see the humanity of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
“We are not the worst thing that we might have done, or the worst situation we might have been caught up in,” she said, before opening the fashion show in a long, gold trench-coat and pink stiletto boots.
Scenes from a streetside fashion show that put dozens of models down the runway who were either formerly incarcerated or have family members behind bars.
Daniel Emuna
The show came at the close of New York Fashion Week and also celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip hop.
Hylton said the event welcomed “everyone” into New York Fashion Week.
Scenes from a streetside fashion show that put dozens of models down the runway who were either formerly incarcerated or have family members behind bars.
Daniel Emuna
“A lot of the people in our communities would never be invited into Fashion Week,” she said. “So this is not just a celebration and an opportunity to highlight the contributions the directly impacted community has in the hip hop culture, but also a give back to the community as a whole.”
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Jessy Edwards
Jessy Edwards covers incarceration and public safety. Before working at Gothamist/WNYC, she covered daily and breaking news at NBC New York and Brooklyn news at BK Reader. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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