Haitian American designer Daveed Baptiste puts New York street culture on Converse

On a recent September afternoon, Haitian American artist and designer Daveed Baptiste turned a SoHo storefront into his own version of a New York City block for a three-day pop-up and Converse showcase centered on his Spring/Summer 2027 collection. 

Baptiste made his entrance carrying a Converse sneakers tire, introducing one of the show’s most noticeable visual motifs before the collection moved through graphic clothing footwear and performance. 

The three-day presentation launched Sept. 18 at 66 Greene St. in SoHo featured Baptiste’s clothing alongside street-performance-inspired characters, graphic designs and references to the everyday life of New York.

“I was just thinking about things that you could kind of dress up but also lounge in, that’s the vibe I’m in this season,” Baptiste told Wedly Cazy.

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But the showcase was less important as a pop-up than as another step in Baptiste’s growing career. From his entrance carrying the tire made of Converse sneakers to his graphic tees, street performers, together, the project show a designer moving between fashion, art and the communities that have shaped his work.

• Street-performance inspired characters appear throughout the Daveed Baptiste X Converse showcase. Photo by Quadir Ali Moore
• Pieces from Daveed Baptiste’s SS27 collection on display at the SoHo pop-up ft the barber shop shirt in all denim and the bow tank top. Photo by Quadir Ali Moore
• Attendees gather inside the Soho pop-up for Daveed BAptiste’s Converse showcase. Photo by Quadir Ali Moore
• Leh-boy the balancer. Photo by Quadir Ali Moore

One of the collection’s recognizable pieces is the “Gap Tooth Tee,” featuring Baptiste’s signature double-gap-tooth image.

Other pieces included warped graphic tees and a denim button-up inspired by a barber shop poster. 

A Caribbean-inspired “Warp tank top” featured a wave motif that Baptiste described as a “classic iconic print.” The tank comes with a matching boxer set. He pointed to the denim button-up, laser-engraved with an image of a barber shop poster, as one of the standouts from opening night. 

The denim button-up was another standout for the designer.

“I own like two of these and I’ve overworn them,” Baptiste said.

A guest looks through pieces from Daveed Baptiste’s SS27 collection during the Converse showcase. Photo by Quadir Ali Moore

The shirt features a laser-engraved barber shop image and was paired with matching shorts made from light denim plaid that Baptiste said changes color over time.

Much of the collection came from a simple question. 

“What do we already really love but make it denim?” Baptiste said.

Baptiste was raised in Little Haiti and living in Brooklyn. In 2025 he received the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s most prestigious honors, celebrating the designers, brands and cultural figures shaping fashion today. 

Bringing the street into the presentation

Baptiste also used performance to create the setting around the collection.

The event featured living-statue performers such as a man reading a newspaper, a woman shopping, and a man with a scooter. Across the newspapers read “Baptiste”, featuring his iconic gap-tooth design. Guests moved throughout the space rather than watching a traditional seated runway show.

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Rather than placing the clothing in a traditional runway setting, Baptiste created a version of a New York street where visitors could move among the performers and the collection.

His own entrance carrying the tire made from Converse sneakers turned the familiar footwear into another piece of the show’s visual language.

The approach reflects a larger part of Baptiste’s work: using fashion to tell stories about the places and communities around him.

Street-performance inspired characters appear throughout the Daveed Baptiste X Converse showcase. Photo by Quadir Ali Moore

Another step in Baptiste’s rise

The Converse collaboration comes as Baptiste’s work continues to reach larger fashion audiences.

For Baptiste, the Converse showcase was less a conventional runway presentation than an interpretation of New York itself, its street performers, its neighborhoods and the people who create its artistic expression and culture.

His rise from Converse’s youth programming to major fashion presentations illustrates a career increasingly moving between communal themes and the broader fashion industry.

The event marked another step in Baptiste’s growing relationship with Converse. Baptiste previously participated in the brand’s youth All Stars program and has continued working with Converse as his career in fashion and visual art has expanded. 

The Haitian creative has also increasingly appeared on larger fashion stages. He was featured in KidSuper’s New York Fashion Week presentation last year.

Haitian-owned Rogers Burgers served food during the event, adorned with mini Haitian flags, while Hennessy cocktails were offered to guests. Alongside the DJ and statues, it gave the night an innovative atmosphere rather than a conventional fashion presentation.

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