A piece from Amani Daylie’s brand Levé, shown at RVA Fashion Week in April
Designer Amani Daylie’s greed was on display during RVA Fashion Week in April. Her show, “Greedy for Levé,” was part of a series of shows she’s built over the past year with her brand, Levé, themed around the seven deadly sins. After showing off her sometimes sinful, sometimes saintly creations during the Emerging Designers Showcase, Daylie was awarded the Rising Star Award for Womenswear.
The biblical theming and her brand’s name — which translates from French as “lifted” — express the meaning behind her work. “I want everybody to feel lifted in my clothing, to feel like they’re on the top of the world,” Daylie says. “I want everybody to stop chasing after bad things and chase after themselves and self-love. Instead of lusting for others, lust for yourself. Instead of being greedy, be greedy for self-love and healing.”
The Denver native moved to Richmond in 2015 and entered her first RVA Fashion Week show in 2019. Daylie also participated in last year’s event with a collection themed around lust.
Designer Amani Daylie
Daylie says the inspiration to start Levé comes from her knack for reconstruction; as a child, she transformed old clothes into new outfits for her Barbie dolls. “That’s why the beginning pieces were reconstruction pieces, because I wanted to kind of tell my story,” she says, “and then it transitions. I want to have my own show [at next year’s Fashion Week]. So, each mini show I’m doing is a capsule of the big show.”
Her 2024 Fashion Week collection emphasized opulence with silky fabrics, oversized jewelry and accessories, and structured bodices and chest plates, hand-cut by Daylie. The first models to walk were dressed in shades of red and black, while the last looks were white and kelly green to demonstrate the transformation from dark to pure.
She started the show with her favorite piece, an oversized blazer reminiscent of a black sky with red clouds peeking through. It was accessorized with a head scarf and boots. “I’ve had that design in my head for a while. I just didn’t know how to execute it,” Daylie says. “I went through a lot to make that fabric do what it was supposed to do.”
Daylie draws and creates her designs on a dining room table at her home in Church Hill. She says her mother, Church Hill resident Rosahn Hinton, has been there for her through the entire process. Hinton notes that Daylie has seen increasingly positive responses from her runway shows.
“I always tell her, ‘Do who you are, and it will bring the audience to you,’” Hinton says. “I think she really did that with this collection.”
Between fashion events, Daylie shares her creations on Instagram (@leve.clothing). She is already working on her next sin. “It’s gonna be ‘Wrath of a Saint,’” Daylie says. “I keep saying each one is my favorite, but this one definitely might be my new favorite. I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to top this one.”
