Alumna and Adjunct Professor Brings Fashion with Purpose to London Runway

From Sept. 17 - 21, Chelsea Grays '14 was behind the stage at a fashion show affiliated with London Fashion Week. She describes the scene as somewhere between structured and "a bunch of chaos."

Dressers helped models rapidly get dressed, make-up artists did last-minute touch-ups, someone times when each model emerged from backstage onto the runway. Online influencers wandered backstage to talk to designers and models and to take photos.

In front, there was an audience of about 300. They sat on each side of a runway with large lights shining on the models. At the end of the runway were photographers and videographers.

There were occasional last-minute challenges.

"A model ran up to me and said, 'I can't find my shirt.'" Grays created a makeshift shirt on the spot.

Impacting the World

For Grays, fashion design is about making a difference.

"It's more than me just making something for people to buy," said Grays. Over the last two years, she has taught Drawing I, Fashion Illustration, Apparel CAD and Clothing and People at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). "I'm doing it to positively impact the community and the world."

Her designs have taken on homelessness, the killing of Trayvon Martin, police brutality, mental health and environmental issues.

In 2025, during her first show in London, Grays work was inspired by mental health issues, specifically "the feeling of being overwhelmed or anxious. I called it 'Drowning.'"

In 2026, she built upon that, starting with the idea of something that is in water and growing and fresh.

Her process starts with an idea or mood or story or even a dream.

Next, she conducts research including looking at magazines, artist drawings and fashion history. "I sleep a lot and might not talk to people for a month or two," she said.

Then she gathers fabric and materials and begins creating samples.

Once in London, Grays worked with models - deciding on shoes, how their hair should look, which clothes work best for which model.

Fashion shows offer designers an opportunity to network with potential buyers from department stores and boutiques along with stylists who work for celebrities or well-known clients and who may commission designers to create clothing.

Getting started

As a girl, sketching shoes and clothing was a hobby. It wasn't until Grays was almost finished with her bachelor's degree in psychology that she considered making fashion a career.

Born in Cleveland, she came from a creative family. Her mother draws, paints and makes jewelry. Her father does 3D printing. Her uncle draws.

"My aunt would organize fashion shows when I was younger, and my siblings and I would participate as models," said Grays.

Her father and brother have served in the military and her collections often incorporate military-inspired colors, functional garments, protective elements, layering and utilitarian construction.

In 2019, she earned an MFA in fashion design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, then studied fashion for two years at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in Paris.

"I was not only the only Black person in the class but also the only American," Grays said.

Among her other shows, Grays has exhibited her designs five times at New York Fashion Week and the PROJECT trade show in Las Vegas.