This past May, I had the pleasure of attending Beyond Fashion Fest in Iowa City. Launched by Iowa native Andre Wright, it was a weekend of fashion, comedy and fun. As a Black woman, witnessing a brother move in his own creative lane was inspirational. I walked away from the festivities thinking, “How did he make this happen in, of all places, Iowa?”
Luckily, Wright answered that question and more with his debut memoir Fashion Activist: My Life as a Designer, Dreamer, and Disrupter (Kendall Hunt Publishing). The entrepreneur documents his life’s journey, stretching from the eastside of Waterloo to the streets of Hong Kong. Part memoir, part business manual, Fashion Activist introduces its readers to the life and times of a man with a mission to bring culture, consciousness and style to Hawkeye Country.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Wright about some of the main themes of his memoir: fashion activism, entrepreneurship and what resistance on the runway looks like. Wright’s journey began in 1980s Waterloo, where his parents nurtured his natural penchant for style and activism.
“I credit my parents, they were very influential,” Wright said of Connie Mae and Freddy Wright. “We always had a sense of Black pride. My dad always had a camera, taking pictures of me and my brother Rashawn. A lot of the youth in our neighborhood … we were all fashionable.”
It’s these familial experiences that helped Wright explore his creativity. Still, to be a young Black boy growing up in the middle of Iowa, challenges presented themselves.
In chapter three — aptly titled “Meet Me At The Crossroads” — we see Wright facing a turning point. As a young adult, the author began selling drugs, which led to a potential 14-month sentence in jail.
“That’s a vulnerable moment for me, even now,” Wright said of the ordeal. “I looked at it as a survival tactic. I just didn’t want to be poor.”
Since this was his first offense, Wright’s judgement was deferred in favor of probation. This was the moment that changed Wright’s life and fueled his foray into fashion.
Wright has honed the lessons learned during his dealing days. “I still carry a lot of those skills throughout my businesses: customer service, profit margins, partnerships.”
Meeting future mentor Jeff Milton introduced Wright to international travel. He visited over 30 countries including Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. “Traveling is the greatest growth,” Wright said, telling me his travels shaped his business acumen and approach to fashion.
He launched Humanize My Hoodie to honor the memory of Trayvon Martin. The brand, sold in nearly 300 stores nationwide, symbolized the key purpose of Wright’s fashion activism: to ignite a global conversation about racial brutality, especially for young Black children.
“When the youth wear it, they wear it as a hedge of protection,” Wright said.
From there, Wright’s fashion activism builds, culminating in the Beyond Fashion Fest, but it’s far from the end of his journey or message. “Initially, I just wanted to tell my story,” he said. “But I organically started to put together a guide on how to create a fashion activist brand.”
Let’s hope other likeminded creatives pick up Fashion Activist and carry on Wright’s mission of resistance on the runway.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s November 2025 issue.
