Not Ready To Make Nice

Today’s post is perhaps going to be one of the most difficult and painful posts to date in my relatively new blog. So please settle in as this one might take a bit but if you care to know anything about what we are going through as “designers” and especially as “designers of color”… You won’t regret it – I promise you…

Earlier today I attended an event at the Bryant Park Hotel entitled “The Lack of Black Images in Fashion Today”. The forum was hosted by “veteran” fashion guru Bethann Hardison. In attendance were the likes of Andre Leon Talley, Constance White, Iman, Liya Kebede, Naomi Campbell, Terri Agins, Robin Ghivan and a host of other recognizable names and faces… When I initially walked into the room, I had a wonderful and cozy feeling... It was almost like the feeling one gets when you first arrive at a family reunion - - - happy to see the folks you haven't seen for quite sometime but equally as thrilled to see the new faces as well... Then, just as you settle in for the festivities, Uncle Elroy has one too many drinks and you instantly remember why you haven’t been in attendance for the last five reunions.. But I digress… There were also a sprinkling of white notables in the room as well, i.e. Ivan Bart (IMG Models), James Scully (major industry casting director) and Michael Vollbricht (former designer of Bill Blass). At this point I have to acknowledge the courage and commitment to this issue by both Ivan Bart and James Scully – the entire industry - Black, White, Asian and/or purple owe these two men a great deal of praise and admiration as I personally know how much they have fought to diversify this industry from within… Having said that, I do believe that it is now our turn to change things for ourselves.

I don’t know how long some of you have been familiar with Malcolm Harris and/or the Mal Sirrah collection, therefore I will fill you in on the following as if we were just introduced today.

This September 2007 will mark my two year anniversary back into the fashion fold… Correction, this marks the two year anniversary of my return to the profession of fashion design - as today truly confirmed that I am not nor do I have any desire to be a part of the “fashion fold”…

I must admit that I knew there would be a bit of tension when I walked into the room, which perhaps explains why I wasn’t formally invited by the organizers of today’s little gathering. The look of pleasure that crossed several faces to have me in attendance as well as the look of utter discomfort by others assured me that I was in the right place at the right time. Two key attendees that I know for sure may have wished I had opted to stay at home are Andre Leon Talley and Naomi Campbell – both of whom I have had a bit of a public falling out with in the press…

Firstly, Naomi Campbell and I haven’t spoken, exchanged glances nor smirks since I produced a t-shirt in August 2005 that read “Naomi Campbell Slapped Me – and I Slapped the Bitch Back”… I have since the printing of this t-shirt publicly apologized for using the word “bitch”, however, the sentiment of the t-shirt remains the same. This is a sentiment that was born out of outrage and frustration over Naomi’s long history and admitted abuse of her personal assistants/employees, etc. I have always felt that when we read about these people allegedly suffering at Naomi’s hand, cellphone, or other unidentified flying objects, we only look at it as fodder for the gossip mill. However, just imagine if this victim was your mother, sister or friend – “Would you want their treatment reduced to fodder and/or idle gossip??? “ I don’t think so… So I made a conscious decision to say in a very public way that not everyone in the fashion industry was running to Naomi’s defense… As Naomi knows – Jamaican to Jamaican – “A Slap Back” and a bit of name calling would have been the least of her worries in Kingston or even Brooklyn for that matter… “She'a know wha me'a chat bout… “

Now to Mr. Andre Leon Talley – The Gatekeeper.. (In a separate post – we will chat about under "whose watch" do we find ourselves as people of color in this current mess – and should we now look towards these same gatekeepers to get us out - I think not) But once again, I digress…

Now, back to Mr. Andre Leon Talley and September 2005…. When I decided to stage my return to the profession of fashion design one of the very first people I informed was of course my friend, Mr. Andre Leon Talley. I was very fortunate in the fact that I could call Andre a dear friend and never for one minute did I take this relationship for granted - I was a lucky young man. Andre was a person that I wouldn’t hesitate to call if I needed advice or to ask an important question (but to be quite honest, I very rarely called him for this, however, it was quite reassuring knowing that I could….) In our ten plus year friendship/mentorship I have never once called Andre Leon Talley for a personal favor and/or to assist me in my career. I have always known that too many people befriended him for those reasons and therefore I intentionally kept our friendship free of suspicion.

Some years ago, I decided to leave the fashion industry after developing a very successful line, Katsumi & Malcolm, in order to move back to Miami where my mother was suffering from cancer. During this extended period Andre and I stayed in touch via handwritten correspondence. Andre used to really appreciate this form of communication and so did I as it reminded us both of a much more innocent time. During this very difficult period in my life Andre provided me with some of the most important pearls of wisdom that I have ever been privileged to receive… and for this, I will always be eternally grateful and thankful… But the kid has now grown up…

Fast forward again to September 2005… It is just before NY Fashion week and I am ready to stage my comeback show (I hate the word “comeback”) - - - my return show. Therefore, I knew I would have to circle the wagons in order to assure our show's success… So immediately I began calling my dear friends and colleagues including Mr. Andre Leon Talley to inform them all of the big news - Malcolm Harris was back in town and ready to regain my spot. First call to Andre - no answer – no problem… Second call to Andre no answer, but this time I immediately go into a long rant on his answering machine about how excited I was to be back and presenting this collection, blah, blah, blah… I must have called Andre 10 times over the course of two weeks; both at his personal telephone and mobile numbers as well as on his direct number at Vogue. Every single telephone call went unanswered… I couldn’t for the world of me understand why??? Therefore I returned to our old form of communication and I sent him a handwritten letter via overnight post… Several days later, still no reply… I then decided to call a mutual friend to inquire if he had spoken to Andre? Imagine my shock and dismay when I heard this reply, “I just got off of the telephone with Andre a few minutes ago. He’s doing great….” At this point, I was completely confused… I took a mental survey of our past conversations and/or meetings and had no reason to believe he was upset with me and therefore assumed Andre was very busy with his plans for the upcoming fashion week… Therefore, I continued planning, plotting, organizing and producing our upcoming show…

A week before our runway show, I decided to call another colleague at The New York Times to explain my plight of getting certain editors and buyers to RSVP inorder to attend our - by the way which was being held in our studio in Harlem. What was also troubling to me was the fact Catherine Malandrino had just shown in Harlem the previous season and had encountered very little trouble getting the entire industry to 125th Street at the Apollo Theater. Of course, I am no fool and quickly realized that this was a person, sorry I mean horse, of a different “color”… My colleague at The Times immediately put me in touch with another editor that she believed could assist me … I shortly thereafter contacted Penelope Greene of The New York Times who proceeded to turn what was supposed to be a blurb on my upcoming show into a half page feature in the Sunday’s issue of The New York Times. From that Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and durinig the course of the following week we received over 600 RSVP’s. However, there was still no RSVP from Andre Leon Talley.




On Thursday, September 8, 2005 I debuted the Mal Sirrah’s Spring 2006 Collection “Delicate Girls”. Editors from Harpers Bazaar, Elle, Style.com, WWD, Vogue and the list goes on and on filed into and out of my beautiful brownstone to show their support and to offer their personal assistance – however, my friend, my mentor, my brother – Andre Leon Talley – never showed up, never called, never cared… Later that evening I received a telephone call from yet another mutual friend whom informed me he had just seen Andre at another event. He then goes on to tell me that when he questioned Andre about his absence, Andre said to him that my show was too far and that he wasn’t going all the way up to Harlem for a fashion show. Upon hearing this I became infuriated and placed my last and final call to Andre to confirm whether or not he had uttered these words. This final call was never answered and/or returned.

The following morning I woke up and found myself enraged… My rage soon thereafter turned into revenge - I could taste the blood dripping down the sides of my mouth (this is completely an Aries, Jamaican male, African warrior thing – so please excuse me for being a flawed and primitive human being). Having recently come off of the back of the entire Naomi Campbell scandal, I knew exactly to whom at Page Six and the Daily News I should address my poison pen.

The reporter from Pages Six was truly amazed that I was able to get the most influential people in fashion into my studio located in Harlem at 145th Street and Convent Avenue (I knew that he almost wanted to say that I had gotten them all to come to the “The Hood”) but the one person I wasn’t able to get there was my friend, Andre Leon Talley. In that moment, I could hear my grandmother’s voice – “Now you know black folks ain’t got no business airing their dirty laundry in public…” But to be quite honest – I never really listened to my grandmother’s advice. So I went in… I mean I went all the way in. I now know that I reacted this way because I felt angry, I felt betrayed, I felt abandoned, but most of all – I felt hurt – a deep, deep hurt that only a parent or a loved one is able to inflict.

This week officially makes two years since I have said a word to Andre Leon Talley - - -until this afternoon… It is too painful for me to describe how Andre Leon Talley behaved when I asked to have a private conversation with him after we left the Bryant Park Hotel. The hurt, disappointment and sadness that I now feel towards this man is palpable. However, the details of this dirty laundry will not be aired in public. Instead it shall remain in the confines of both of our spirits and manifest itself via karma. May light and energy be yours my brother…

Today if you ask me if I regret any of it – I would say this… I regret using the “B-word” when referring to a woman of color (however, there are times when I still use the word bitch and feel no pain as that is exactly what I mean at the time). I regret that I never got to explain that Naomi’s t-shirt is a part of a series of t-shirts that we have been producing called “Girls Behaving Badly”. We have had tees printed aimed at Britney, Paris, Lindsay, Nicole and the rest, but for some reason the media never runs with these. However, they chose to make the one about Naomi a huge deal all over the world. This has proven to me that the old “divide and conquer” tactic is still in effect. Unfortunately, I was too blind to see it.

When it comes to regretting what I said in the articles about Andre Leon Talley, I don’t regret a single word, and this has nothing to do with our encounter of earlier today. What I do regret is the place in which these words were born. In this moment, I realize that I do have one other regret about this entire situation – I regret that I never shared my true feelings with Andre during the course of our ten year friendship for fear that the great Andre Leon Talley would be my friend no more… It always concerned me throughout the years that Andre and others weren't using their power to bring other African-Americans into the fashion fold. There would be the occassional "honorable mention" - I myself was privy, if not reduced, to an honorable mention within the columns of Vogue by ALT. However, I am talking about the history of Vogue hand holding as we have all seen them do for the likes of Zac Posen, Proenza Schouler, John Galliano, Derek Lam, and the list goes on and on.... but when it came to people of color not even the established people of color wanted to help. Once again not being a fool, there was also always a bit of me that new that Andre and a select number of his black colleagues had come from the old school of “there can only be one – and I’m it”… I regret that I never had the courage nor the voice to say exactly what I felt as concerned what I was witnessing. But as a black man living in the world today, I no longer have the luxury of fear…


Regrets, maybe??? But I will leave you with this… If you take a look at Andre’s column since September 2005 and September 2007, I guarantee you that you have read about more black folks in the last two years in his column than you have ever read or seen in the history of him writing “Life With Andre”…


In the famous words of Thomas Pain and reinterpreted by my dearly departed father, Mr. Mel “RudeBoi” Harris - - -“Lead, Follow or Get The Fuck Out of the Way” - Therefore, Mr. Leon Talley wherever you are headed, I cannot follow… I CHOOSE TO LEAD…

I refuse to just shut up and sew!!!

Not Ready To Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks