On the eve of Joe Biden’s inauguration, the President-elect and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, along with their spouses, took part in a solemn memorial dedicated to the more than 400,000 Americans who have died after contracting COVID-19.
Standing in front of the National Mall’s reflecting pool, Harris, joined by her husband Doug Emhoff, wore an outfit proper for the touching occasion. The now former Senator sported a coat from New York fashion label Pyer Moss. The coat’s designer and Pyer Moss founder Kerby Jean-Raymond is not only known for his activism opposing racial injustice, but his efforts in the past year to support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's not about fashion. It's about values. At the COVID memorial on inauguration eve Kamala Harris wore a coat from Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss, a Black designer who worked to provide PPE and help to small businesses," New York Times fashion editor Vanessa Friedman tweeted.
After his sister was exposed to COVID-19 at work, Jean-Raymond used his New York office to collect PPE for hospital workers. He also pledged $50,000 in grants for small minority and female-owned businesses.
“Tonight we grieve, and begin healing, together," Harris said during the memorial, mourning those lost during this pandemic. She will be sworn in as the next Vice President during Wednesday's inauguration.
