North Star is a reference to Polaris, the star that enslaved people in the U.S. used to find their way to freedom. As one of the brightest stars in the Northern Sky, it is easily visible to the naked eye. Because of its location, it does not appear to move – all the stars seem to rotate around it. This seemingly fixed, stable position has made it useful for navigation since time immemorial.

Today, the term “north star” is used as a metaphor for a goal, a beacon, or orienting point. Frederick Douglass famously named his abolitionist newspaper The North Star, both in reference to the star’s use by enslaved people, and as a nod to aspirations of greater equality for people of African descent. Like Douglass’s North Star, this brand is a realization of a long-held objective. I use North Star to explore my identity as a queer black American, which is why reworked American motifs are a house code. In the revolutionary tradition of African-American aesthetics, the brand rethinks American identity by reclaiming and reworking symbols, like the American flag, and making them part of the African-American sartorial lexicon.

Fashion can be a tool of liberation. It has the power to express personal identity and break down societal expectations. North Star takes the flaws of the fashion industry and harnesses them for good. Fashion, rather than a tool for masking class and racial inequality, can be used to free us. I am inspired by the vitality and ingenuity of enslaved people whose labor was central to the construction of the U.S., despite not benefiting from citizenship. From the crucible of slavery and limits on their creativity and self-determination, they fashioned themselves beautifully from the dearth of resources at their disposal, but those limits set them free. Similarly, I use recycled and deadstock textiles to make new fashions, a version of sustainability practiced by enslaved people. I have found my North Star.

North Star uses fashion to reclaim and rework symbols of American identity in the revolutionary tradition of African American aesthetics. After years of studying the relationship between histories of enslavement and the birth of the American fashion industry, North Star serves as a creative counterpoint to this scholarship and curation. I use North Star to explore my identity as a queer black American, reworking American motifs into a house code. I found my north star.