When Kev Addison walks in the room, he makes an impression. In the world of athleisure that is the contemporary college campus, Addison stands out in beret, necktie, Ralph Lauren cardigan, and nice watch.
“You can’t play the supporting character in your own film,” explains the IU senior, named earlier this month as one of five finalists across the U.S. for the 2024 National Retail Federation (NRF) Foundation’s Next Generation Scholarship. The scholarship rewards students “who have demonstrated leadership skills, previous retail experience, and a passion for making an impact in the retail industry,” according to a November 8 press release from the NRF. The winner will be announced at the NRF Foundation Honors gala in New York on January 14.
Addison’s sharp ‘fit is all about making an impact. According to the marketing major (Kelley School of Business) and fashion design minor (Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design), fashion can be a tool for self-actualization. “I think if we understood the power of clothing, all of us would dress a little different. I think it does something psychologically impactful in a positive way. It helps people understand who you are; it helps us understand who we are.
“I stand out because I wanted to stand out,” Addison continues. “I figured that out very early when I was in high school. You’re just not made to fit in. I don’t think any of us are. I think conformity holds us back more often than not. So, when I came to college, I wanted to be my authentic self, and be around people who have that individuality as well, who are able to form their own opinions, and ideologies, because that’s the only way I can grow.”
Kev Addison in the Kirkwood Hall fashion design studioEric Arnold for the NRF Foundation
For inspiration, Addison always keeps his short-list of legendary nonconformists at the ready:
“The biggest minds, the greatest visionaries — Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen, Virgil Abloh — maybe those are people who were thought to stand out a little bit, but you see the return on investment on being individuals. They were able to bring the greatest products and services because they did take a chance and stand out with their individuality.”
Addison earned his spot in the scholarship contest’s finals with a case study created in collaboration with Macy’s, proposing a way to enhance the retailer’s omnichannel marketing strategies and to find a consumer segment to generate profit for the next three years. Omnichannel marketing considers contemporary consumers’ varied shopping behavior—both online and in stores.
A proposal from Addison's case study to engage the seamless shopper courtesy Kev Addison
In his case study, Addison targeted the “seamless shoppers” (who alternate fluidly between digital and physical retail spaces) of Gen Z and the millennial generation with three shopping enhancements:
a mood board showcasing Macy’s private brands to help a customer learn their style,
a virtual AI stylist that scans the customer’s closet to make suggestions for purchases that complement the customer’s existing wardrobe, and
interactive creative opportunities for loyal shoppers, such as a social media contest for customers sporting Macy’s own labels, in which the winner would be rewarded with an opportunity to collaborate with the retailer to design a product.
A slide from Addison's case study for Macy'scourtesy Kev Addison
Paying homage to the Macy’s brand – even Addison's AI stylists bear the names of Macy’s founder (Rowland) and first female executive (Margaret) – the proposal simultaneously empowers the customer. Unlike the traditional marketing strategy of reminding a consumer of what they lack, Addison’s compliments them on what they already have: taste, creativity, and plenty of stuff. “Let’s find a way to enhance your style,” Addison hopes these assistants suggest. Like a friend.
Addison's virtual assistants bear the name of Macy's founderscourtesy Kev Addison
The generosity of this vision permeates Addison’s approach to the industry. “Retail is a place where all of us connect,” Addison told the NRF Foundation. “It's a place where all of us get a chance to come together.” Although his look signals individuality, Addison’s take on fashion is expansive, generative. Beyond mere garments, fashion, in Addison’s world view, functions as a portal through which “to push the paradigm of our society forward,” as he envisions it, “to help propel us to a higher level.”
This ambitious agenda springs from the medium’s capacity for storytelling, Addison suggests. Consider one of his heroes: born and raised in the Bronx by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Ralph Lauren went on to codify the look of American class. Making his brand iconic required telling stories, using movie magic to make them stick: as one of the costume designers for the 1974 film “The Great Gatsby,” Lauren helped usher in a new appetite for dressing like old money. Fast forward 50 years, and Lauren’s Polo Bar hosts patrons in a style befitting Jay Gatsby, while out on the Manhattan sidewalks, Ralph’s Coffee Trucks “evoke a sense of the timeless American spirit of the Ralph Lauren brand,” as asserted at ralphlauren.com. What started as cosplay has effectively created its own reality.
“Maybe clothing is just an add-on,” Addison speculates. When it comes to building his own luxury goods/apparel/hospitality line, he has a similarly comprehensive vision: “I want to create a company, but I want it to be its own universe. The universe will look different from other brands of course. It has a very strong DNA. Think about a brand like Apple. A brand like McDonald’s. Their business is not the burgers, it’s consistency. They’ve created a universe based on that.”
The mission that drives the universe Addison aspires to construct is one of empowerment. “Fashion freed me of the opinions of others and taught me to step into my own,” he says, hoping to pay it forward, so that others can “find a piece of individuality within them.
“I can’t do what a doctor does. Fashion doesn’t save lives,” Addison concedes, “but it can save our spirit.”
It can do so, he suggests, by creating that space for storytelling, for educating, for dreaming, as Addison’s favorite designers do. “Virgil Abloh educated us about rhythms in dance music in his designs for Louis Vuitton. I learned about World War Two through Christian Dior. Alexander McQueen—some of his concepts were gruesome—but he did more for our industry by portraying those stories. Thierry Mugler brings all the stories together in a grand celebration. Thebe Magugu is a South African designer who teaches about apartheid through fashion. Other new designers like Pyer Moss, Wales Bonner—the brands have a dedicated space to educate. While the clothes are also beautiful, it’s not just about the clothes.”
Addison isn’t prescriptive about the stories to be told in his fashion world. Lately, he’s been considering stories that “need light brought to them,” including those from the Harlem Renaissance, he suggests, or about Black archers. More than anything, he wants to create a space that encourages anyone to be the protagonist of their own story. “It’s never about me, it’s about you,” he asserts. At the same time, his own biography sets the brand’s aspirational tone. A first-generation college student from Gary, Indiana, who grew up “wanting to be a shoe guy, but couldn’t afford it,” Addison intends to explore his roots and celebrate Black culture as he builds the brand.
Kev Addison on the Bloomington campusEric Arnold for the NRF Foundation
“I did not get here by myself,” he asserts. “I stand on the shoulders of giants who come before me from every industry. Someone like James Baldwin, or Kerry James Marshall, or Virgil Abloh, or my parents or my grandparents. It’s not just me, it’s a lot of people—ancestors who are all here to aid me, to push me.
“My culture has not always been celebrated in America. But I see the great lengths that they took to be unapologetically them. Someone like Nina Simone, or Billie Holliday, James Baldwin, or Lauren Hill, to shed truth and authenticity, and so I must do the same. Because I know they did that through discrimination, and Jim Crow, and persevered, at a very high level. So I must, not just for them, but for the next generation. I will make sure that Black culture is represented authentically and at the highest level.”
That representation will not be limited to the struggles. “We’ve seen so many stories about Black culture facing adversity, like slavery,” says Addison. “And we must hold fast to those truths. But we are descendants of kings and queens,” he notes. So, like the painters Barkley Hendricks and Kehinde Wiley, whose full-length portraits represent their Black subjects in the grand manner, Addison’s brand intends to restore that majesty, to announce, “welcome to the opulence.”
“But in my world, there’s nobody who’s not being uplifted,” Addison insists. “It doesn’t stop at race, color, creed, religion, sexuality; everyone has to be.”
Interviews with the NRF Foundation Board of Directors will determine the recipient of a $25,000 tuition scholarship, to be announced on stage at the NRF Foundation Honors January 14 in New York. Considering that the other finalists will receive a $10,000 tuition scholarship, Addison is a winner whatever happens in January. Not to mention that earlier this year, he was named a 2023 Virgil Abloh Post-Modern Scholar by the Fashion Scholarship Fund, the second IU student to hold the distinction in the three years since its establishment by the late designer.
“I’m so blessed to win this but it’s not by my own doing at all. It’s reaIly about the support of this amazing faculty,” Addison says, acknowledging Senior Lecturer in Fashion Design Lori Frye, who introduced him to the competition, Merchandising Lecturers Deb Pearson and Jody Maurer, and Senior Lecturer in Fashion Design Deb Christiansen. “They have gone above and beyond to help me and be open to me. I couldn’t do that on my own. I’m really blessed that they took such a liking to me. I'm not even a major, but they showed such support and believed in me.”
