Fashionable Thinking for inmates at Rikers Island

Fashion Theory has become the most sought after class in the Prison Education Initiative program at Rikers Island, a nonprofit organization specializing in educating incarcerated women.

Classes are led by Anna Lynett Moss, designer of Chiyome products and former project runway alum. Moss course objectives are examining cultural identity and ownership and their effect on the design process, according to Time
“People with creative training are in a unique position to envision innovative alternatives to some of our deepest social problems,” said Moss to Of a Kind.

Moss hopes to achieve this vision by referencing runway shows such as the Burberry Prorsums resort 2012 collection and the Rows fall 2012 collection to have the women think critically of their surroundings in a fashionable away.

“As a group, we considered the messages we receive from the fashion industry about body image and physical differences. Too often it seems any attempt by the industry to celebrate difference is a fleeting stylistic choice. In their Fall 2012 collection, The Row presented their work on all white models. What does it mean for my students of color not to see many icons of beauty who mirror their image? Many of my students claimed they felt alienated by conventions they see in fashion advertising and on the runway.” Moss explained.