INTERVIEW: Indya Moore Reclaims Modern Prep With The Brooklyn Circus x Gap

Bronx-raised, Pose actor Indya Moore has a penchant for challenging the status quo through her creative pursuits. For her, finding individual style is an act of self love and an emblem for conversation with her family, friends and peers. In conversation with Hypebae, she affirms, "I'm really grateful for how fashion has played such a huge part in challenging how we love each other. Something so simple as the clothes we choose to wear can create a catalyst of questions and learnings."

Moore has set the standard, in every industry she touches, for intersectional representation and discussion, making her a perfect face to represent a new collaboration between Gap and New York City's own The Brooklyn Circus. Once reserved for academia, prep demands a modern twist in the collection which blends inspirations from "music, Black culture and street style." Set to the rhythm of a diverse cast including Moore, Euphoria's Javon Walton, Bethann Hardison and other cultural curators the campaign brings the iconic American style to the now.

Continue reading for more of our intimate conversation with Moore and her mother Gloria as they unpack unconditional love, individual style and how they pair the two.

If you were to take someone from out of town around New York City for the day where would you go?

Indya: I would probably take them on a boat ride in the pond in Central Park. I'm from the city and I appreciate all the ways that various people have come together to create New York City, but really, I'm a nature person.

What was your experience like being involved with The Brooklyn Circus x Gap campaign?

Indya: I had a really beautiful experience. I've always wanted to work with Gap, it's such an iconic brand and The Brooklyn Circus was a really fun, amazing brand to discover. When we were in the fitting, I was having a conversation about my experiences and they were really excited to hear about my relationship with my mother. It was beautiful and moving when they said they wanted to have my mom in the shoot. This is my mom's first fashion campaign and for us to be able to represent prep, a really cool, classic, American style, I was moved to tears.

This collection speaks to American prep and individuality, which is inherently fluid, how has your style evolved over the years and in which ways has this affirmed your identity?

Indya: I really appreciate how prep is largely gender neutral. The Brooklyn Circus and Gap coming together to create this unique style and to make it so accessible to everyone is really dope. It's a statement. It's a really beautiful way to evolve fashion and to embody it with different people.

We're from the Bronx, right? And typically this style has been inaccessible to people from the there because there's so much dissonance in class. Like, "Prep Acadamia," right? It's the assumption that this is a style isn't accessible to everyone. I never went to college, I dropped out in 10th grade. And that's why I appreciate how this collection made prep easy, accessible and fun for people across the spectrum.

You speak in the campaign video about wearing your moms pants at school and how this choice was kept hidden — what would you tell yourself then that you know about the style choices you made?

Indya: I would encourage my younger self to continue on the path I was on even though it was hard and embarrassing at times. I would commend myself because I didn't know if what I was doing was right but I would encourage myself to keep going. My life is my own to live and to shape and to love other people with.

My imagination of myself wasn't the expected form or one that most traditional families expect. It wasn't gendered. Even though that was hard, I never really resented my parents. I grew up in a loving family. At the same time, when people grow up in a struggle they don't really have the space to learn about the pace of the world, you're just trying to survive. In many ways it’s a privilege to be able to know that it's ok to dress how you dress and like who you like and to have fun and enjoy yourself. A lot of people don't grow up knowing that. My parents have taught me how to be safe and at the same time I've showed them that there's ways to be safe and to be free.

What has being Indya's mom taught you?

Gloria: To be more patient and to love more. To get help and to ask questions. And continue to love unconditionally. Indya has taught me so much. Parents and their child, they're not always going to agree, but sometimes we have to look through their lens. Everything can be a teachable moment.

And Indya, what is something that your mom has taught you?

Indya: Care, patience and acceptance. My mom and I taught each other different ways to care for people and each other. Her being who she is and me loving her for who she is has contributed to all the parts of myself that I'm the most proud of.

My mom is so wise, her emotional intelligence is the center of how I've learned how to be graceful and to be conscious of how I show up and effect other people. She taught me what true love really means and it's ability to transform.