Greyson's First Capsule Collection

Hi, I'm Greyson Snyder, a young designer from Chapel Hill NC, now working out of Brooklyn NYC. At the age of 16, with the help of some amazing teachers and mentors, I wrote a 23 page business plan for a label called | GREY |. 5 years and a few fashion design awards later, I am finally ready to put out my first pieces.

I finished high school during the first big pandemic lockdown, and forewent a Covid dominated first year of college, despite getting into my dream school (Pratt), to start working towards my goals more directly, and without the daunting debt of student loans. At the end of 2022, after spending 14 months learning from a number of great business mentors, and running a movie theater I'd worked at throughout highschool; I moved to NYC with very little notice, to work at a couture studio and a cafe simultaneously, in a major leap of faith decision. Thus foregoing the comforts of my life in Chapel Hill and attempting to carve out a living in the big city all on my own. After a lot of networking, countless sleepless nights, and what have often been 80+ hour weeks, I am finally ready to kickstart the rest of my life and launch my first collection.

My line focuses on breaking down binaries, within fashion, and wider culture. Gender, socioeconomics, dress codes, power dynamics, and more; are critically deconstructed through clothing. We also believe in sustainability from the top down, with fair wages, quality natural fiber fabrics, and supply chain transparency at the forefront. We celebrate diversity and inclusivity, not just in the workplace or ad campaigns, but in storytelling, both in front of and behind the camera. I also intend to feature workers from the supply chain in my ad campaigns, and to give them and working models features in a video format titled "Putting Voices to Faces" where the hardest working individuals in my industry, often given the least time and attention, are given a platform for storytelling that ordinarily they wouldn't have but have more than earned.

My first main collection, cheekily entitled "Le Smoking Kills" is based off of the 1960s Yves Saint Laurent Le Smoking Suit, one of the first examples of men's evening tailoring made for a woman's body. My collection looks at the 21st century evolution of that concept, creating fine evening tailoring and tuxedos for "every-body", and removing gender from the equation altogether. With tuxedo dresses and silk ball gowns seamlessly paired with tee shirts and denim, and with both guys and gals in the same skirts and He's/She's/They's in suits, the collection will cement my design language from the outset. My goal is to be recognized as the Thom Browne of Tuxedos and the Tom Ford of Tee Shirts. With a bit of Alexander McQueen and Ricciardo Tisci's Givenchy thrown in the mix.

I am however, first launching a preliminary capsule collection entitled "A Hill Worth Dying On" celebrating my hometown of Chapel Hill, and both local legend and former Ralph Lauren apprentice, Alexander Julian, who designed the UNC uniforms, and global superstar Michael Jordan. This "origins" collection centers around a lingerie-like lace basketball jersey, emblazoned with number 23 in silk, standing both for Jordan's number, and the year of my launch. This piece works just as well courtside, as it does for SoHo nights out under a blazer, and comes in black-on-black "home" and white-on-white "away" colorways. Starting with this smaller capsule will allow me to build relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, stores, influential clients, and end customers; before I undertake the much larger main collection.

Your contribution will make a direct impact on the production of these first collections and allows a young hopeful designer to make the first strides toward making a living out of his dreams. Thank you for your time and consideration, any amount helps immensely!