NYMD: Terry Singh FW23 Collection
Photo credit: Alpine Baek/VRAI Magazine
When the Terry Singh brand made its debut at New York Men’s Day (NYMD) last season, this Editor quickly took notice. Fusing beautiful, tailored men’s formal wear with an unexpected skirt in lieu of trousers, Singh’s designs were a standout.
Singh is back at NYMD with his Fall/Winter 2023 collection, inspired from a celebration of African ancestry, rich textures, colors and patterns that exemplify the beauty of diversity. The resulting collection is full of depth not only in texture, prints and color, but also in significance based on an opportunity to learn more about this emerging designer. It should also be noted that the latest collection conveys a theme of family structure and togetherness where a family unit shares a cohesive look and has a clear identity, as shown in some of the model groupings captured below during the event held on day one of New York Fashion Week, February 10, 2023.
Originally from Guyana, South America, but of Indian descent, Singh traveled to South India for six months in 2013 where he learned about himself through many realized spiritual masters. During his time in India where the the summer temperatures reached a stifling 120 degrees with no air conditioning, Singh ditched wearing pants for lungi, a type of sarong/skirt worn by the everyday man.
While on a mountain top with fellow seekers of self-realization, Singh asked a yogi to bathe him, as in holy service to the Divine. After the bath, he came to the realization that the European suits he was so proud of wearing were deeply embedded in colonial identity and that he was no longer the same person.
After returning to New York with his new found clarity, he realized pants were only for extreme cold weather and changed his wardrobe by only wearing South Indian lungi. The challenge he found was that the lungi felt too religious and ethnic. The result was Singh’s reshaping of the lungi and the creation of a new look that was both empowering and liberating.
After many years of developing and fine tuning my look and getting photographed everywhere I went, I realized through friends in the industry that it this could be of benefit to others who also seek freedom and that fashion can be a tool for them too. I wanted to create fashion and apparel that was a visual and outward expression of their inner world.
Terry Singh
Jumping forward to his second appearance at NYMD, Singh looks at this as a gift to showcase his brand at an event which exemplifies community, people who celebrate and support each other. “The fact that there exists a platform to bring forth new ideas and share those ideas with the world, generating opportunity for those trying to break the mold – well this moves me beyond words,” said Singh.
And when asked about any special details or highlights that should be noted in the FW23 collection, it wasn’t surprising that Singh turned the spotlight on the people at the event:
- Daughter Sasha, pictured below, who wanted to wear a matching skirt to her Dad, Terry
- Padina Bondar, a professor at Parsons who was sought by many top brands, but who chose to
work on this collection and ended up leading the team - Mother and son Ana and Alex Dias dressed in gold
- An artist couple, Troy Abbott and Enrique Gomez de Molina, two of Singh’s dearest and most inspiring friends
- Teenage actor Julian Lerner who reached out, wanting to model
- A mother and her daughter in the African orange look
- A single father, Dennis Williams, a SVP at Warner Media and his son Elan
We can’t wait to see more of Terry Singh and his SS23 collection next season, but for now, see more moments captured during the NYMD presentation at Daylight Studios.
