The idea for Black Russian Label came to Joanna de’Shay when she was feeling frustrated working as a community relations manager in corporate America. The fashionista even felt a little hypocritical – she told her young kids to do what they love and chase their dreams while she felt she was not doing that. De’Shay decided to put her dual master’s degrees in fashion design and management from Arizona State University to work and created a more inclusive brand for curvy women. “The label is created for a woman that I think the fashion industry has forgotten. She’s not plus-size, but she’s also not a size zero,” de’Shay says. “Her body has morphed and changed, and fashion has not morphed and changed with her.” De’Shay’s designs are informed by her cultural identity – her mother is Russian, her father is Nigerian and she was born and raised in West Africa. Her focus is on fitting “curvy bodies into rectangular silhouettes,” she says. “I think when something fits a woman well, that lends to her self-esteem and feelings about herself. She’s wearing the garment, and the garment is not wearing her.”
