Fashion History Books Often Exclude Black Designers —Shelby Ivey Christie Is Changing That

“I felt like I had done all the threads I could do,” she says. “The rest of my industry finally started saying, ‘Hmm, we do have a diversity problem.’ I felt like, ‘Okay, my work is done. I moved the needle. What’s next?’” By February 2023, she started ideating what became Haute Heritage. (That wasn’t her only professional shift: She’s currently pursuing an MBA at Central Saint Martins, fashion’s scholastic holy grail, or “the Harvard of fashion,” as she calls it.)