There are interviews you prepare for.
Then there are conversations that quietly begin rearranging the way you think.
When I sat down with Pascal, the artist and designer behind Sigi`Nommo, I expected to talk about fashion. Collections. Fabrics. Inspiration. Maybe even the business of building an independent label in Harlem.
Instead, we spent hours talking about identity.
And somewhere in that conversation, I realized I wasn’t interviewing a fashion designer at all.
I was meeting a man who has spent a lifetime trying to answer one question:
Who am I when I stop trying to become everyone else?
You hear Paris before you see it.
His French accent carries the rhythm of another place, another culture, another way of seeing beauty. But Pascal’s story isn’t confined to France. Like many artists, he has been shaped by movement. By crossing borders. By standing in museums. By walking unfamiliar streets. By observing how different cultures express joy, grief, spirituality, resistance, and celebration through art.
Some people travel to escape.
Artists travel to understand.
Every city leaves a mark.
Every language teaches a new way to see.
Every culture asks different questions.
Somewhere between Paris and Harlem, between galleries and neighborhoods, between continents and conversations, Pascal began discovering something remarkable.
Art wasn’t meant to stay on a wall.
It was meant to walk beside us.
That simple idea became the foundation of Sigi`Nommo.
Most designers begin with trends.
Pascal begins with paintings.
Before a garment exists, there is a canvas.
Before there is a collection, there is a story.
His brush moves first.
Only later does the artwork find its way onto silk, cotton, jackets, dresses, scarves, and streetwear.
You aren’t simply wearing fabric.
You’re wearing a journey.
You’re wearing the memory of places.
You’re wearing the influence of cultures.
You’re wearing conversations between Paris and Harlem.
You’re wearing an artist’s search for himself.
When I looked at his work, I didn’t immediately think about fashion.
I thought about museums.
Then I realized something.
Museums ask us to admire art from a respectful distance.
Pascal asks a different question.
What if art could leave the museum?
What if the masterpiece walked through Harlem?
What if beauty didn’t belong behind glass?
What if your morning commute became an exhibition?
What if every person carried a canvas?
Suddenly, fashion became something much larger.
It became a living gallery.
During our conversation, Pascal shared an image I haven’t been able to shake.
He asked me to imagine standing in the Louvre.
Thousands of people travel from every corner of the world to stand before masterpieces that have survived centuries.
But imagine if every painting looked exactly the same.
Would anyone make the journey?
Would anyone remember them?
Would they still possess the same value?
Of course not.
Their greatness is found in their originality.
Then he quietly turned the conversation toward us.
How often do we spend our lives trying to repaint ourselves into someone else’s masterpiece?
How often do we trade our own colors for someone else’s approval?
How often do we believe fitting in is more valuable than standing apart?
The question lingered in the room.
Maybe our obsession with imitation costs us more than our creativity.
Maybe it costs us ourselves.
That, to me, is the quiet power of Pascal’s work.
There is a gentle rebellion stitched into every collection.
Not a rebellion fueled by anger.
A rebellion fueled by authenticity.
His work resists the pressure to conform.
It challenges the idea that fashion should simply follow trends.
Instead, it suggests something far more radical:
Your life is a work of art.
Protect it.
Express it.
Wear it honestly.
As I listened, I began thinking about Harlem itself.
Harlem has always been a place where artists refused to disappear.
Where musicians, poets, writers, dancers, and painters transformed personal expression into cultural movements that echoed around the globe.
Perhaps that’s why Pascal belongs here.
His work carries Paris.
It carries Africa.
It carries Europe.
It carries Harlem.
It carries everywhere he’s been without losing sight of where he is.
That’s a rare gift.
As someone who spends every day searching for remarkable stories, I left our interview believing Sigi`Nommo isn’t simply a clothing label.
It’s a philosophy of becoming.
A reminder that discovering the world is ultimately about discovering yourself.
That every culture we encounter teaches us something about our own humanity.
That every city expands our imagination.
And that the most meaningful journeys aren’t measured in miles.
They’re measured in transformation.
Next week, I’ll be wearing Sigi`Nommo throughout the week on The Morning Show.
Not as a model.
Not as an endorsement.
But as an invitation.
An invitation to think differently about art.
About fashion.
About identity.
About the courage it takes to remain original in a world that profits from imitation.
And I hope Pascal is only the first.
Mood Magazine is opening its pages to Black fashion designers, textile artists, and creative visionaries whose work is rooted in culture, craftsmanship, and authentic storytelling. We want to explore the journeys behind the collections—the cities that shaped you, the people who inspired you, and the ideas woven into every piece you create.
If your work tells a story, we’d love to tell it with you.
Email us at hello@moodmagazinenyc.org.
Because the next great masterpiece may not be hanging in a museum.
It may already be walking down the street.
by Jarvus Ricardo Hester
Inspired by Sigi Nommo’s journey from Paris to Harlem? Discover more of his art, philosophy, and latest collections by visiting his official website at Sigi Nommo. Experience the creative vision behind the artist whose work continues to bridge continents through fashion, culture, and storytelling.
