Graduating from Parsons School of Design comes with great accolade, however, even sometimes that’s no match for the fashion industry – especially as a person of color.
Recognizing those challenges graduate student, Melquan Ganzy sought out to curate his own platform. “When I was grad student, I studied fashion in depth, on so many levels,” Ganzy explained to ESSENCE. “At Parson’s it kind of amplified all the ideas that I’ve always had in regards to conceptual and critical thinking,” he included.
Creating his namesake brand GANZY, the North Carolina native details the platforms purpose. “I wanted to start a platform that basically uses fashion to speak on diffrent social issues and and that’s exactly what I have been driving for.” The creation serves its purpose to be a corresponding opinion and introduce academic articles to advocate for social discontent and underrepresented communities.
Production Assistant: Alvarez Jones
Most recently, Ganzy launched its series “Black Love” due to his feelings about the community’s affection being overshadowed due to religion and cultural norms in Black culture. This series is introduced in a selection of church fans, a representation for the Black southerner “I have an urge to create space for Blackness,” Ganzy exclaimed. “Being a southerner, I’ve seen the marginalization on so many levels.”
Now as GANZY gains more recognition, the platform serves the purpose of normalization the Black experience to a larger audience. “Everything takes time and things are starting to pick up for it in terms of visibility,” Ganzy concluded.
For more information visit theGANZY.com.