Alyah Baker

 “I’ve known since I was young that I would have careers in fashion and dance,” says Alyah Baker. In 2011, after a 12-year career as a salesperson, buyer, and product merchandiser, Baker and friend Nichole Payton launched Show & Tell Concept Shop, a lifestyle platform that features products from Black- and LGBT-owned brands. “It was important to us to create a warm and welcoming environment where folks of all genders and orientations, from different walks of life, felt comfortable experimenting with personal style,” says Baker, whose work has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, and dapperQ. A former professional dancer who holds a BA and MFA from Duke University, she is also the founder of Ballet for Black and Brown Bodies, an education and advocacy platform for culturally relevant dance training. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” she says of founding the platform in 2017. “The class is a joyful, radically inclusive environment that caters to a diverse range of beings, centering POC as well as older, queer, fat, trans, and gender-expansive movers. I also curate an epic playlist to dance to. Dancing alongside community members is a life-affirming practice that more people should try.” Who inspires Baker? “I love researching Black feminist theory, performance, and aesthetics,” she says. “Some sources of inspiration include the Combahee River Collective, Lucille Clifton, bell hooks, Faith Ringgold, Meshell Ndegeocello, and the ultimate icon, Josephine Baker.” –LE