I have known Shannon Martin‘s works for a few years now and I love how she has found her niche by creating illustrations to celebrate the Black fashion community. For this series, I have invited her to collaborate and highlight 3 of her favorite Black-owned fashion brands and their S/S 2021 collections!

I personally like this series a lot because the artworks are very colourful and uplifting! I love the fact that there is a story behind each art piece. Also, Shannon includes 3 Black models in these pieces to make this series extra special!

This is what Shannon has to say about this project.

“When Draw A Dot asked me if I would be interested in doing a series of illustrations, showcasing BIPOC fashion talents, the only suitable answer of course was YES.

These three pieces celebrate the works and beauty of Virgil Abloh’s Off White, Stella Jean, Christopher John Rogers, Binx Walton, Naomi Chin Wing, and Amelia Rami.”

Virgil Abloh expresses different concerns throughout this collection. One of those concerns is going back to our old ways before the pandemic, especially regarding the environment. This had me wondering, what if we do go back to our old ways, and in the end, there is not much nature left? Are we going to imitate nature by recreating it, perhaps with mechanicals, like those steampunk-style flowers? So this illustration is a result of this train of thoughts of mine.

Stella Jean’s collection is a mix of design elements taken from different cultures from all over the world and from her own heritage, made up of Haitian and Roman ancestry. Her collections cover different diaspora.

This one is extra close to my heart as I am a member of the (South American) Surinamese diaspora. And when we people from different diaspora look in the mirror, we see the different influences of our ancestors. Some of their origins are known, while some of them are unknown.

This piece is simply about catching the fun essence that’s at the core of Christopher John Rogers‘ style. So, no ‘deep’ backstory to this one, but just a colorful sight for sore eyes.

Please visit Shannon Martin Instagram account to see more of her works!