Shelby Ivey Christie is here to change the way we view fashion. As part of a new generation of fashion critics thriving online, and a fashion and costume historian herself, Christie’s mission is to raise awareness of black people’s long – and often overlooked – contributions to fashion history. Whether it’s creating Twitter threads on one of YSL’s model muses or Beyoncé’s Homecoming looks at Coachella, Christie’s examination of fashion through the lens of race, class, and culture, has made her a looked to and verified voice online and beyond.

Using memes and accessible language to illustrate her points, Christie has spoken with the CFDA on breaking the glass ceiling and what equity means for black talent, hosted a pilot for a TIDAL series (where she interviewed Dapper Dan), and spoken about black designers live on NBC New York. With an aim “to document and share black contributions to the fashion and luxury landscapes, as well as educate people on how and why fashion is political,” Christie is a necessary and long overdue presence in the homogenised world of fashion. 

What issues or causes are you passionate about and why? 

Shelby Ivey Christie: Erasure of black contributions to fashion and art. In the greater discourse around fashion and other art forms, blackness is an afterthought – in the case that it’s thought of at all. When fashion and art are only viewed through a western lens, history is quite literally being rewritten. As a historian, I know how important documentation is – proof, receipts, are always the grounding point. If the receipts of black fashion and black art aren’t being documented and shared then what will happen 20 years from now? The proof will not exist.

“In the greater discourse around fashion and other art forms, blackness is an afterthought – in the case that it’s thought of at all” – Shelby Ivey Christie

When it comes to your work, what are you most proud of? 

Shelby Ivey Christie: I’m most proud of carving out a space of my own and making academic/scholarly information more accessible and digestible. The internet is saturated with ideas inspired by other ideas. It can be a pretty homogeneous space. I’m super proud of wedging my way in and creating a form of storytelling unique to me. I’m proud of doing it my way, with my black slang and my southern “y’alls” and my memes – in colloquial language that is accessible to everyone, not just academics.

What creative or philanthropic project would you work on with a grant from the Dazed 100 Ideas Fund?

Shelby Ivey Christie: I would love to partner with the Met Costume Institute or the National Museum of African American History & Culture to curate an exhibition focused on telling a style story centred on a very authentic Black moment in fashion. It would honour historical Black fashion figures and exhibit fashion objects that relate to that story. I would also like to direct and produce a mini-documentary to accompany the exhibition.