DESIGN HUNTING: A LOFT WITH A HIGHER PURPOSE

Ali Richmond, co-founder of the nonprofit Fashion for All Foundation, has lived in this Brooklyn loft for almost 20 years with his archive of designer clothing.

- WENDY GOODMAN

IT WAS MUSICAL chairs over the years," Ali Richmond says of the various artistroommates he shared this Crown Heights loft with since landing there in 2005. The squat, two-story former factory has neither an elevator or a doorbell, so to be let in, a call is necessary. The setup on the 3,000-square-foot second floor was a bit of a throwback: four artists, each with a bedroom, sharing a common workspace and splitting the rent. "I wasn't a painter or sculptor at the time," Richmond says, and when he was asked by one of his prospective roommates what kind of art he made, he responded, "I'm wearing it'-I was wearing a sweater that I had reconstructed out of this vintage one, and I said, "This is my work; this is also art."" In the summer of 2016, in the wake of the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police, there were protests all over the country, including a silent one organized by Hannah Stoudemire on July 12 during Men's Fashion Week in front of the Skylight Clarkson Square event space. It lasted six hours. The press noticed, the Council of Fashion Designers of America CEO Steven Kolb posted it, and conversations began.