I Remember Willi Smith. On February 28th, 2022,(actually the 29th Leap Year) Willi would have been 74 years old. It’s fitting with all the 80’s & 90’s trends on-fire now, that in the last year Willi has finally begun to get the recognition he has always and will always deserve. I would imagine he’d have a zillion followers. Before Willi, “Street Wear” was never a thing. When he won the Coty Award (pre-cursor to the @cfda awards) The @NYTimes called it “Street Couture”. It only matters that his legacy stays very much alive and all the great new talent today hopefully knows who Willi Smith was. When we went to Senegal West Africa to make a “fashion movie” directed by @maxvadukul - in 1985 it broke ground on how to do a “show” that wasn’t a runway. The Senegalese Ballet Company coming out of a large suitcase in WilliWear was just major. Premiering it at the famed Ziegfeld theater in NYC was just cool. (Today it’s called “disruptive”) One day we’ll release “Expedition” for all to see. Fast forward to this past week. After @telfarglobal final “event” @theseaportnyc of @nyfw there were so many sub-conscious nods to the WilliWear “Expedition” film that made me smile. It’s likely Telfar had no idea. It’s not important really, but for sharing and noting it here. It’s like new actors who get pegged with names like “the new Sidney Poitier, or the new Denzel”. Mr. Telfar Clemens is the “new Willi Smith”. He will likely cringe with being the “new anything”, but that’s okay. Willi would have likely reacted the same way. @lhmallet @pg_lolo @lindamasonnyc @christadsouza #willismith #nyfw @cooperhewitt Yours truly Mark Clemens Bozek. (Yep that’s my real middle name)