Damn GOOD Designer GENES

At its core, Damn Good Designer Genes (DGDG) is a celebration of Black beauty and an interrogation of what happens when profits are prioritized over connection. It challenges us to ask: Who sets beauty standards? On whose authority? And what happens when those who define beauty are disconnected from the cultures they commodify?

DGDG imagines a world where a major retail brand creates a product or campaign that disrespects Black people—a scenario that feels all too plausible in an industry often devoid of Black voices in decision-making. Through this lens, the collection becomes a reclamation of agency, a vivid assertion that Black beauty exists for beauty’s sake—not for validation, not for profit, but as a testament to its own worth and power.

Inspired by the legacy of Kwame Brathwaite and the "Black is Beautiful" movement, this series confronts the sanitized, exclusionary ideals of mainstream aesthetics. Against radiant, unapologetic color palettes, dark skin becomes the focal point—an affirmation of lineage, love, and legacy. These images ask us to rethink beauty standards and celebrate the richness of Blackness not as a fleeting trend, but as a cornerstone of cultural identity.

DGDG is more than a collection of images; it is a counter-response, a reclamation, and a celebration. It is a reminder that our beauty has never needed external validation, and our legacy is a story we tell on our own terms. This is Black beauty in its purest form: joyful, resilient, and powerful.