Celebrating International Women's Day
Levi’s® X Marrisa Wilson NY: The songs. The hair. The love.
Style /
March 2021
We chatted with emerging designer Marrisa Wilson about our collab for International Women’s Day—touching on her Guyanese roots, ’90s R&B, letting your hair be whatever it is, and the color yellow.
The Levi’s® x Marrisa Wilson NY collection honors International Women’s Day. What does this day mean to you?
This year's theme for International Women's Day is #ChooseToChallenge, and I'm excited to reimagine what an "American designer" brand looks like in the fashion industry. It could very well look like a girl from Jersey, born to Guyanese parents, with big hair, and whose favorite color is yellow.
What role has your parents’ immigrant experience played in your life?
My dad came to this country when he was 14, and my mom in her early twenties. They were able to create a life for me and my brother. Seeing everything that my parents did, all the sacrifices they made for us, drove me to not make any excuses for why something wouldn't work. To just be scrappy and work with what I had at each moment.
Still, it’s not everyone who starts their own business at such an early age.
I come from an entrepreneurial family, so for me to start my own brand at 22, that's just what my family does—like, cool, I’ll start my own business from the ground up! When I finished school and started Marrisa Wilson New York, it didn't seem like a crazy thing for me. It plays into this can-do attitude—you know, do the research, do the work and you'll figure it out.
How have your Guyanese roots informed your design?
I love colors and prints. I’m influenced by the spices and foods from Guyana, the flavor and soul. Those are at the heart of Marrisa Wilson New York. My favorite food is Pepper Pot, which is this big stew that we make every Christmas. You boil all these seasonings together with the meat in this giant pot. Those flavors, that soul, is the root of Marrisa Wilson.
Music is important to you, too. You designed song titles onto the Heritage Trucker Jacket and Ribcage Bootcut Jeans.
Every Saturday morning, my mom would wake up early and put on music. That started the day. We’d wake up and clean the house and there was always this old-school Motown music. When I design, it’s always a good grounding place for me. For this collection, I sat down and put together a playlist of my favorites—’90s R&B, old-school hits that will always live. When you hear them, you just feel good.
What was it about this particular playlist of 9 songs that inspired you?
I wanted it to be focused on songs from when I was younger and also to get across the message of strong, powerful women, particularly for Women's History Month. Songs that really stick with me, that I feel will never get overplayed.
What influenced your decision to use embroidery with the texture of Black hair?
I get a lot of compliments on my hair. But let's see, it's 2021, I’ve been natural for six years. I never knew what my hair—my actual hair—looked like for most of my life because my hair was chemically straightened. I wanted to bring that into the inspiration for this collection because I think there's a moment right now where it’s a lot easier. It’s more acceptable to have your hair in its natural state.
Yes, slowly.
I think there's a fear of showing your natural hair and revealing that your hair isn't perfectly straight. I talked to my mom after I cut my straightened hair off and she was like, “Oh, I knew this was you. I knew one day you'd go down this path and you'd end up here.” But in terms of my journey this was a new thing.
What were some of your challenges with your hair?
Natural hair is often described as difficult. I studied abroad in Paris and my hair was pressed at the time and my blow dryer blew out—you know how they have those converters in Europe? So I went to someone to get it pressed, and they were speaking in French and they charged me triple the price because, they're like: Tes cheveux sont difficiles (“Your hair is difficult.”). And mind you, most of my hair was straight and there was probably just an inch of new growth in it. So that was kind of...a little bit of...a shock for me...but, um...
Even to do natural “right.”
You know? But if it's frizzy, it’s frizzy. It’s your hair to be frizzy.
Yes!
I'm getting choked up talking about it. In using textured hair as a motif, I wanted to show women that it’s beautiful and we can create art with it. So we created art with this collection. That's the message behind it. The songs and the music—the playlist and the pop of color are my own injection. But the embroidery and the texture is about: I'm inspired by *you* women. This is my ode to you.
You use a lot of bold, vibrant textiles and prints. How do you choose them?
I design all my own prints digitally. I love to take colors and experiment with scale and placement. But I also like to take it offline and play in the actual, tactile world. From a silhouette perspective, I try and keep it pretty straightforward. I'm not a draper—I don’t reimagine silhouettes from that perspective. I really love to dig into the print and the texture and the fabric. For this collaboration, with the embroidery, I looked at it as an exercise for myself. What can I do with this denim to make it look new and different?
Why did you choose the Ribcage Bootcut for Levi’s® x Marrisa Wilson NY?
I love a high-waisted fit. I tried it on and I was like: My legs feel looong! Personally, I've been going away from the skinny fit. I don't know if it's being home and just not wanting anything close to me, but with the boot cut, I liked how long my legs looked, and being able to wear it with heels. It just felt really flattering on me.
Yellow is your favorite color. Why?
It's just such a happy and energizing color. It's something that I’ve been trying to incorporate in all of my collections, whether it's a bright pop of yellow or a slightly greenish yellow. I think it's just always going to be a connecting thread—whether it's just an interior snitching or even just a bar tack.
Even the Levi’s® tab on your Ribcage jeans is yellow. It really pops!
When I was conceptualizing this collection, I wanted it to be super bold. But as I've grown as a designer, I've learned how to make considered use of color. As much as I wanted to make it completely head-to-toe yellow, when I was in the Levi’s® Tailor Shop looking at the materials, I was like: if all of this embroidery was yellow, would I wear that? Hmm, probably not. So we made the embroidery tonal, and we played with the interior and exterior details. I really wanted to bring in some of those unexpected places so it's something to show off, but it's also for the wearer.
The poet Amanda Gorman wore your yellow shirt for a recent reading on CBS Good Morning. She loves yellow, too.
I saw that she was going to speak at the inauguration, and a few days later I looked at my website traffic and it had skyrocketed. I’d sent her some pieces back in 2019 and she reached out in April. She said, “I haven't forgotten about you. I did this TV appearance and read a poem about COVID and here are the clips.” She's very sweet. I was really happy to see it.
“Ain't No Imposter” is a slogan of yours. What does this mean to you?
That was a mantra I came up with to combat the idea of imposter syndrome, which is something that impacts women a lot. Especially Black women. You get to a certain level of success in your career, and you feel like—no, I'm an imposter, I'm not supposed to be here. This isn't real, I'm a fraud. There's this fear that someone's gonna say: “Gotcha!” Undervaluing all the work—the blood, sweat, and tears that you put in to get where you are. I came up with it as a strike-back to that notion. You do, in fact, have value, and all that work you put in has gotten you here for a reason.
Is the industry changing?
Between the Black Lives Matter movement and this massive reckoning that's happened, there is now this appetite for Black women—Black designers—to come to the forefront and be the new age of visionary leadership in fashion. As you progress through your career, there are fewer women, and when you get to a certain point, there are no Black women at all. Yet Black women are the fastest growing demographic in terms of entrepreneurship. Our spending power is growing exponentially. To have the amount of money that Black women contribute to the fashion industry and at the same time such a lack of representation in leadership never made sense to me. I would love for the fashion industry to recognize and value that—to really dig into this customer base.
How important is it for women to lift each other up?
Incredibly important. So important that I made sure that we had an all-female crew for the Levi’s® x Marrisa Wilson NY photo and video shoot.
You work closely with several initiatives, right?
Outside of designing, I've been doing work with the Black Fashion Council and the Black Design Collective, working toward equity in the fashion industry and creating educational initiatives for long-term change. I’ve also been working with Peter Arnold and the Fashion Scholarship Fund toward systemic change. There are so many kids outside these Metro areas that see fashion as far off and unattainable. They don't know that fashion is a real career choice. So in addition to my brand, this is something that I've been working on—bringing these kids in young and working with them, developing them, offering them continued guidance. It's definitely a long game. It’s about being able to give back and help the next generation.
Wear your strength on your denim and show us how you #LiveinLevi’s with Levi’s® x Marrisa Wilson NY.
Download the app to shop exclusive styles from the collection.
Hear it it. Wear it. Here's Marrisa's playlist for the collection (plus a few extras).
Director + Photographer: Kivvi Roberts @kivvirachelle, https://www.kivvirachelle.com/
Lead Producer + Stylist: Leetah McGee @ayoleets, https://www.leetahmcgee.com/
BTS Video + Photo Asst: Karston Tannis @skinnywashere, http://www.karstontannis.com/
BTS: Emilina Filippo @killerandthedisco, https://killer.darkroom.tech/
Hair Stylist: Gabrielisa Garcia @gaby_hairstyles, https://www.gabygarciahair.com/
Make-up Artist: Maite Moreira @mai.mor
Production Asst: Ileana De Hoyos @seathewoman and Ben Baskin @ben_baskin
Model: Avi McClish @avi_ously_
Music Producer: Vicky Casis @_casis_, https://linktr.ee/_casis_