The House of Arches Show Put Black Designers in Fashion’s…

On a cold, humid Tuesday night on Chelsea’s far west side, near the fog-shrouded Hudson River, five fashion designers from the Black & Positively Golden® Change of Fashion program sent new collections down the runway. There was a kinetic energy in the air that climbed as each piece hit the runway. The audience was unified under one roof through a shared love of Black expression. On this night, people felt welcome in the House of Arches.

With labels Muehleder, VICTIM15, Freddie Estelle, HEARTHROB, and Nia Thomas all showing, each designer’s assortment marked the culmination of 12 months of creative adventure and mentorship. In the days leading up to the House of Arches show, the Change of Fashion program worked with the Black in Fashion Council to have all five designers participate in their 2025 Fall Discovery Showroom. They also had appointments with buyers, stylists, and media to showcase their collections.

On the runway, every collection stood on its own as an honest statement blending craft, vision, flair, and functionality. Together, the collections, the designers, and the show, also sent a powerful message to the fashion industry: More Black designers is the new Black, and it’s time that the industry responds in kind.

Per Zippia statistics from 2021, only 7.3% of American fashion designers are Black. There are very few Black designers in positions of power. There aren’t enough Black decision-makers working in distribution channels, in manufacturing, or as buyers for prominent brands. All despite the fact that Black Americans start innumerable fashion trends and dominate vast areas of pop culture.

This disparity inspired McDonald’s to create the Black & Positively Golden® Change of Fashion program. It paired Larissa Muehleder (Muehleder), Shareef Mosby (VICTIM15), Durrell Dupard (Freddie Estelle), Heart Roberts (HEARTHROB), and Nia Thomas (Nia Thomas) with industry mentors and gave them the resources to elevate their careers.

The program is producing results. The House of Arches runway show made that clear.

Before it even started, celebrities and Black fashion legends like Dapper Dan and Misa Hylton mingled with a chic, diverse crowd in an elegant, brick-walled lounge.

The bar served champagne alongside custom “Margarita Muse” and “Let Me See You Walk” cocktails, while waiters passed a curated menu of Cheeseburgers, Chicken McNuggets® and McDonald’s World-Famous Fries®. Then, a curtain separating the lounge from a hidden stage was pulled away. The surprise kabuki drop drew audible gasps from the crowd before attendees proceeded to take their seats. Music blasted and a parade of models werked the runway for the five designer collections.

By the time Muehleder, Mosby, Dupard, Roberts, and Thomas took a group curtain call and received their flowers, the atmosphere had changed. It had started snowing outside. Inside, the designers were met with a cavalcade of cheers. It was a triumph. Black fashion in all its variety of expression and perspective had taken over a New York runway to the acclaim of all.

“We’re changing that 7.3%* to 10%, hopefully 15%,” VICTIM15’s Mosely said. As House of Arches attendees filtered out from their seats back to the lounge to enjoy a complimentary McFlurry® or two, it was easy to see how that could happen. Maybe this was a Change of Fashion for the ages.

Here’s how each House of Arches collection went down.

Muehleder

At House of Arches, Larissa Muehleder of Muehleder showed a collection titled Enter Loudly, Leave Quietly.

“It’s a testament to how women don’t have to sacrifice their femininity in order to be strong leaders,” she said. Perhaps it was a lesson learned from working with her Change of Fashion mentor, Jacqueline Cooper, COO of the celeb-fave label LaQuan Smith.

On the runway, Muehleder presented mostly short hemlines across a selection of sophisticated knit dresses, ruched skirts, sheer evening pieces, and business suits. She even put an elevated rugby shirt-dress in the mix. The collection explored volume and color, alternating between bodycon knits and oversized silhouettes across a palette ranging from kiwi to cobalt, and brick to business-black.

At the end of the show, Muehleder made the customary designer’s trip down the runway. She wore an oversized black suit jacket, white shirt, and black tie as a skirt. Her message was clear: Power and femininity aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they’re one and the same.

Muehleder’s Enter Loudly, Leave Quietly collection will be available for pre-order in late February, with delivery set for FW25.

VICTIM15

For Shareef Mosby of VICTIM15, working with the Black & Positively Golden® Change of Fashion program was a professional and personal odyssey.

Originally from Richmond, Virginia, he now lives in Los Angeles. Mosby moved to LA partly because, “my mentor lives out there,” he said. That mentor is none other than award-winning journalist, editor, best-selling author, and television host, Elaine Welteroth.

Judging from the VICTIM15 collection Mosby showed at House of Aches, the partnership has been fruitful. Under the collection title, Finding Peace, Mosby marched models down the runway in looks that were equal parts streetwear and high fashion. He showed deconstructed denim for both men and women, along with clever patched sweatshirts and a fringed poncho. Though Mosby said the “poncho means a lot to me,” he closed the show with a sleek, long-sleeved black dress with a high, fringed slit up the left leg. The range between those two looks encapsulated Mosby’s own journey with Change of Fashion.

“When I got the call to be on the Change of Fashion program, I was in Richmond, and now I’m in LA,” he said. “That in itself shows how when you have that support to lean on, you can take over the world.”

Freddie Estelle

After a year working with his Change of Fashion mentor Justina McKee (of swimwear house Matte Collection), Durrell Dupard, the designer behind Freddie Estelle, wanted everyone at the House of Arches show to know where he was from.

His show was an homage to his family and the New Orleans community that raised him. Dupard’s label name, Freddie Estelle, is a tribute to his late uncle, and the handsewn and crocheted pieces that peppered his collection honored his grandparents who taught him these crafts and nurtured his creativity.

Dupard called his collection Magnolia Muse and presented his looks to the sounds of New Orleans funk against a backdrop of Mardi Gras Indians and Crescent City luminaries like Mannie Fresh.

Still, he was glad to be in New York. “Having my pieces featured on New York runway 2025 is a dream come true,” Dupard said. “I’ve been literally thinking of this since I was a little kid.”

Not one to disappoint, he brought that NOLA flair with him to the snowy Big Apple. His Magnolia Muse collection incorporated looks that would be at home in both cities. It was full of crocheted pants adorned with rosettes, as well as a bright, subtropical palette, and even fish prints that spoke to New Orleans’ unique combination of vibrancy and grit.

“A lot of peoples’ grandparents used to have similar stuff at their house,” Dupard said. “So they’re going to feel a connection with their inner child.”

The collection also boasted exquisite leather puffers, black turtlenecks, and baggy motorcycle cargo pants that recalled New York elegance. A potent combination indeed.

HEARTHROB

At House of Arches, HEARTHROB designer Heart Roberts opened his show with an audio clip.

“Fashion, like survival, is not just about utility,” the clip said. “It’s about identity and reclaiming power in the face of adversity.

With a vivid perspective that acknowledged cataclysm could be synonymous with change, Roberts’ HEARTHROB Apocalypse collection kicked off with a long, fur coat. It was his favorite piece.

“I’m from New York. You have to have a fur coat in New York,” he explained. “And it screams apocalypse with all this deconstructed fur.”

The rest of the show featured male and female models in distressed, baggy jeans, bomber jackets, and textured hoodies. Deconstructed elements, rivets, leather, and frayed threads added to the ambience.

Roberts acknowledged that the Change of Fashion Program helped his work and made this collection possible. Working with his mentor Sherri McMullen, founder of luxury concept store McMullen, was transformative.

“Where I started with this program is completely different from where I’m ending,” he said. “It helped me elevate so much by taking notes from all the other designers. I’ve taken advice from my mentors.”

The Heartthrob Apocalypse collection will be available in FW25.

Nia Thomas

Nia Thomas knows how to deliver a message. After six years with her own label and one year working with Change of Fashion mentor Shawn Howell—former category lead for men’s apparel at Walmart and Saks Fifth Avenue, and current category lead at West Marine—this was her moment. Before Thomas sent a stream of models down the House of Arches runway for her eponymous label, she played a vocal sample for the crowd: “Do not overthink it,” a woman’s voice said.

It set the tone for a collection Thomas said was about “elevated simplicity with an emphasis on craftsmanship.” 

Those themes came through in a series of satin dresses, knit skirts, sweater dresses, and even shorts sets. Thomas also included a number of hand-woven paper raffia pieces in her collection, combining the material with mother-of-pearl medallions and buttons that played off the contrasts between the two textures. Thomas closed her show with the same combination, showing a black raffia coat with mother-of-pearl buttons as her grand finale.

“It looks so fab on,” she said, closing things out as simply as she’d begun them.

The Nia Thomas collection is set to launch in August/September (FW25).

To learn more about the McDonald’s Change of Fashion Program or to see what the past year has been like for its designers, follow along on Instagram at @WeAreGolden and the Change of Fashion YouTube Playlist.

*Per Zippia.com, 2021.