Stylist Zerina Akers said on September 25, 2026 that the whole fall wardrobe can hang on one good coat.
“A beautiful coat. The coat is going to save you,” she said. “The jacket is the dress.”
Akers is the Emmy-winning costume designer behind Beyoncé’s Black Is King, and she styled the Formation video in 2016. Her client list also includes Chloe and Halle Bailey, Ava DuVernay, Yara Shahidi and La La Anthony. She founded Black Owned Everything, the platform that puts Black-owned brands in front of shoppers who want to buy on purpose.
Her larger point is about pressure. She named Rihanna and Doja Cat as women who get it right by wearing what feels like them rather than what the moment demands. Style, in her telling, is collaboration and play, not a test you can fail.
That lands differently for us. Black women get read head to toe before we say a word, so getting dressed can feel like armor instead of fun. One of the most decorated stylists working says loosen the grip.
Akers is developing a collection with her cousin, and she has an unannounced collaboration with designer Brandon Blackwood coming soon.
Practical version for this week: buy the coat, wear it over everything, and stop rebuying the rest.
