The aTVfest panel took place on Feb. 27 where Miss J Alexander talked about the current state of the fashion industry.
“I’ve been me, doing me for so long,” was how Miss J opened up the panel. He shared his experience with cross-dressing when he was young saying that now, because of the tv show Pose, Billy Porter is allowing it to be refreshed.
Miss J grew up in the South Bronx being number seven of ten kids and recalls not having everything that he wanted. While his siblings had jobs, he would receive their hand-me-downs and he would create a new garment out of them.
“Some of these pieces I still do have, I kept. I’m not a hoarder! I just keep good things and I bring them back to life if necessary.” Right after, Miss J talked about Gucci and how it carries great styling, looking like something we can achieve based off of our wardrobes.
Fourth-year fashion marketing and management student Hauwa Abubakar described the panel’s topics as, “I guess being yourself and not caring about others, living life on your terms, being true to yourself type of thing.”
Miss J expressed disbelief on high-fashion brands with $1,000 t-shirts and $6,000 sweat suit. After touching up on cross-dressing, growing up and a bit of the fashion industry, he talked about an experience that was an eye-opener during this year’s NYFW.
Miss J was sitting front row at a fashion show of a designer whose name he didn’t disclose. He continued that while he was enjoying the show an influencer approached him and asked to be interviewed and he agreed.
He mentioned how disappointed he was with the fashion industry and how talent is being overlooked because of social media following and likes. Miss J said this because the female interviewer asked him about trends he has seen and he retorted that “It’s the first show! I haven’t seen any trends yet.”
Miss J said the influencer became nervous, and even when he asked her to mention six types of skirts the interviewer/influencer didn’t understand the question and failed to answer.
Miss J brought this up during the panel because he indicated that social media is being used incorrectly nowadays and also said that it’s not a priority to know everything about fashion while in the industry.
Fourth-year fashion marketing and management student Christopher Parungao said, “The Slay with Miss J event was both enlightening and entertaining. Miss J addressed topics such as gender fluidity’s current place in fashion, queer identity and PC culture. It was interesting hearing about his upbringing, given the generational differences between the queer experiences then and today. However, it wouldn’t be a conversation with Miss J if there wasn’t laughter. The serious and raw nature of the conversation is balanced out with his big, funny personality.”
Miss J closed out the panel with inspirational words students loved to hear, “Take risks on your career, safe ones, but do take them.”
