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Draya Michele‘s most recent collection is showing off her current obsession with the 70’s while remaining on trend. The mom of three showed her Fall/Winter 2018 collection during NYFW at Cipriani’s 42nd Street with Style Fashion Week. Style Fashion Week took a more inclusive approach to NYFW, allowing guests to purchase tickets to the show.

Front row guests included La La Anthony, Fabolous, and Diddy‘s sons’ Christian and Justin Combs.

Showgoers, editors, buyers and more were not disappointed with a collection filled with sparkle, fringe, and all the Studio 54 vibes you can bring with you to the beach.

Draya’s past collections have been criticized for only being built for women with her body type (read: perfect) with styles that thicker women might find more intimidating to wear. While Draya’s collection is daring and sexy, I was happy to see more pieces that could be sized up for her MintMore collection. The collection featured off the shoulder pieces, risque bottoms with forgiving fringe, and a sequin romper that I want right now.

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Nevertheless, I was a bit disappointed in seeing a lack of body diversity on the runway with progressive shows like Chromat show Christian Siriano encouraging and promoting more diversity on the runway. Last year Sports Illustrated made Ashley Graham the first plus-size model to ever grace their cover and this year one of their Rookie Of the Years’ include Hunter McGrady whose 40″ waist is proudly presented on her Wilhelmina model card. If Draya is making over $1M a year from the plus-size consumer, why won’t she include them on her runway? In her defense, she did interview with Hello Beautiful when she debuted her Beige And Coco clothing collection. When I inquired about a plus collection, she said she creates for what the people ask for. Is $1M not a large enough ask? Do more plus-size women need to be in her DMs?

Her collection undoubtedly will do well and I’m sure we’ll be seeing girls everywhere posing in their Mint Swim. It has a cult following. However, as Draya’s collection has grown and evolved as she has, I push her to continue challenging herself as a designer with a more diverse array of women, showing off her swimsuits.

At the conclusion of the show, Draya walked the runway and gave us a strong pose before clenching both hands in the air with her fist. In that moment, I felt like I felt the moment with her. You could see it in her body and in her face. All the years of being ganged up on by the other women on Basketball Wives (seems like eons and past evolutions ago, eh girl?) and them making fun of her swim line dreams, that she’s winning. She proved, in the city where if you make it here, you can make it anywhere, that she is more than making it, Draya Michele is thriving.

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Marc Jacobs - Runway - February 2018 - New York Fashion Week: The ShowsThe Shows
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