Ilya S. Savenok— Samsung Electronics America/Getty Images

Thom Browne is a creator of worlds. He is constantly shifting the lens on menswear and womenswear. He re-envisions the fashion lexicon through his designs, proportions, and storytelling even within the parameters of his classic gray uniform.

As a painter, I am drawn to Thom’s imagination, analogies, and metaphors. He pulls you directly into a fantastical and magically real place that can simultaneously be read within and transcend a historical context. Now chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, he continues to upend fashion conventions with thoughtfulness about every detail.

Thom’s designs bring us into his unique creative space and show us that we belong. His ideas about what clothing can be are expansive. They carry us into the realm of self-costuming, self-fashioning, and self-experimentation. His work inspires us to recognize the endless possibilities of play in daily life, in how we represent ourselves through style and beyond.

Sherald is a painter best known for her portraits

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