‘A mirror to the room’: Pyer Moss, specular strategy and Black Lives Matter

Abstract

Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s version of historical materialism and with refer-ence to the concept of despecularization from psychoanalytic film theory, this article looks at the historical and cultural significance of Pyer Moss’s Spring/Summer 2015 fashion show, where Kerby Jean-Raymond, the artist and designer behind the label, used the runway to bring attention to state-enforced violence against Black men and women.