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https://www.barrons.com/articles/20-minutes-with-actor-writer-producer-issa-rae-01665421827

Issa Rae is one of the most powerful multi-hyphenates in Hollywood. The actor, comedian, writer, and producer is a Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor for Insecure, the HBO series she created, which ran from 2016 to 2021.

She has graced the cover of Vanity Fair, made this year’s Time 100, as one of the most influential people in the world, and starred in B.J. Novak’s recent comedy thriller Vengeance. Her latest series Rap Sh!t recently debuted on HBO MAX.

Now, she’s collaborating with Delta Air Lines for a collaboration that debuted as part of Los Angeles Fashion Week last week. She curated a runway show of six up-and-coming fashion designers who featured their latest items at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport (a small, VIP airport in Los Angeles known for its fleet of private jets).

Rae, 37, chose these independent brands to feature in the hangar runway show for their design-forward attitudes, practicality, and stylish accents. It includes Oyster, travel-friendly apparel, and Ponto Footwear, which makes lightweight dress sneakers. Rae calls this limited-edition collection Runway Runway, and all items are available on an online shop hosted by Delta.

Rae tells Penta why Paris is one of her favorite cities, staying comfortable on airplanes, and supporting women fashion designers.

PENTA: Whenever I travel, I just want to wear jogging pants and be comfortable. How do you make travel fashion stylish? Issa Rae:

Hah. I depend on the designers to do so. I’m not a designer myself, so for me, it’s really about comfort to express it. I really understand it. I’m physical at an airport, no matter how much I want to be dressed down—let’s say, like in my pajamas—I can’t do that. I try to dress the way I feel, and how I want to feel, makes me excited for the trip. So, with this current group of designers, they have the mission of making essential travel items and accessories.

You made video interviews with each designer for Delta. I felt your passion come out when interviewing the eyewear designers behind Ember Niche Eyewear. Why do you love them?

Yeah. They were fun. I love glasses. I’m just really trying to find, across the board, small businesses that need the exposure to get to the next level. Their story was so interesting to me, and this was fully a collaboration with Delta helping me to find designers to curate and figure out what I want to wear. What am I passionate about? With Ember Niche Eyewear, they wanted to talk about their story, manufacturing glasses, traveling to China on a whim, and the travel that impacted their innovation. Having glasses that are inspired by the countries they have visited. Every designer’s story is really interesting.

What city inspires your style the most?

Oh gosh, I love traveling to Paris a lot, because of the café culture, and because the best writers created some of the best novels and work out there, I always feel like it inspires me when I’m there. I have been thinking about the Black Renaissance of literature, and how much of that took place in Paris. There’s so much history in Paris that makes me feel capable. I also love anywhere with a beach, so anything close to water inspires me—any place where I can hear waves. It makes me feel comfortable and at ease. I just went to Saint Kitts and Nevis, and that was like: “I have to be back.”

Why did you want to host this Delta runway show in an airport hangar?

I love the revival that Los Angeles Fashion Week is having, and to be a part of this, to have this in south L.A. is such a treat, to us. Just collaborating with Delta and having them provide the travel element of it, and having it hosted in an airport hangar, I think traditionally, we think of certain spots in L.A., we think of it as the entertainment capital, about film and TV, and fashion and Hollywood and downtown L.A., so to be in south L.A. feels neat to me.

How important is it for you to support women fashion designers?

As a woman myself, I feel an air of comfort telling our stories. and I get a lot of joy seeing us win. Seeing us on these kinds of platforms, both for our female designers, and having women speak for women, and design for women, it's important—because nobody knows us like we do. Oddly enough, the fashion industry is predominantly centered around us, and there aren’t a lot of prominent female designers that get the credit they deserve.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Issa Rae is one of the most powerful multi-hyphenates in Hollywood.

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