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The collective talents of Detroit’s artist community continue to be its biggest and most popular export.
Ryan Smith and Shelton Hawkins Jr., both 21 and from Detroit, are a testimony to that. They were chosen by incubator Flying Solo to showcase their fashion brands during Paris Fashion week, Feb. 20 through March 8. Flying Solo is a fashion hub that uses its platform to promote and empower emerging designers from across the world. Thousands apply, but few are chosen.
“It was kind of a shock. Me and my mom thought it was fake. She was a little skeptical, but you know, she was just being a mom,” Hawkins says.
Hawkin’s high-end fashion brand Étrange Studios was started in 2018 and inspired by a childhood passion to creatively stand out and be different. “I used to take old stuff I didn’t wear anymore and basically make it into something I wanted to wear,” Hawkins says. “I was bleaching, dyeing it, making it cool. I didn’t want my style to be like anyone else.”
Ryan Smith, owner of the luxury fashion Stay Ribelle, is a second-generation fashion designer. His mother Tomika Smith is one of the founders of the apparel brand Detroit Girls Rock.
“Stay Ribelle basically means stay true to yourself and live life to the fullest,” Smith says. “A lot of people put their expectations on you, but you’re only supposed to live up to the expectations you set for yourself.”
Smith and Hawkins have always shared a mutual interest in fashion and Smith even assisted Hawkins with his first brand, Kings Clothing, in high school. “We kind of started out together but we separated and created our own different brands,” Smith says. “It’s all love at the end of the day, we both support each other. It’s good to see us both taking the next step.”
Both know that the interest in Detroit’s fashion and art scene is at an all-time high, but say they aren’t surprised.
“I feel like the push we’re making now is because there are so many artists, so much good stuff out of Detroit that it's hard to deny us. It's hard to ignore it,” Hawkins says.
Both Hawkins and Smith will have the opportunity to showcase eight looks in Paris. They both plan to use the experience to grow their brands and make strong connections with other designers and decision-makers in the fashion world.
“I want to just network, I want to put my clothing brand on a different scale. Taking it overseas is like different eyes seeing my brand,” says Smith.
“I know my clothes are going to speak for themselves so I just want to connect with the people I need to connect with,” adds Hawkins.
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