As a footwear designer and creative multihyphenate, George Sully found success at an early age — he’s a two-time inductee at the Bata shoe museum, regularly sells through his Sully & Son sneaker drops, and designs for film and TV stars — the Star Trek Discovery Starfleet boot, that’s his. But even as the achievements racked up, recognition and press coverage continued to be elusive. “Like other Black designers, I was marginalized, but I still touched that glass ceiling, even if I was capped from achieving more,” says the Ottawa native. He calls the situation “designing in the dark.” “If there are no opportunities, there is no light for you.” he explains, “but Black designers still have that drive, still have that desire, so we continue to do it in low light, and we got good at producing work in the dark. Now can you imagine what we can do with the lights turned on?”

The low light, of course, is systemic racism, a force that has long kept Black designers off racks and out of the media. “It was like carbon monoxide: you can’t see or touch it, and it was killing us,” says Sully. “Now everyone’s seeing it and everyone’s smelling it. If we’re acknowledging there is a problem, we can actually solve it.” Sully took on one solution himself, creating Black Designers of Canada, an index of highly desirable, shoppable Black-owned labels and designers. Today, everyone from stylists to journalists to buyers can see the bevy of talented individuals out there — as clear as day. Sully also joined Hudson’s Bay Charter for Change, partially inspired by his son, Adrian. “He needs to know his father’s contributions were accounted for.”

When was the tipping point for you? When did you know you had to stop what you were doing and create Black Designers of Canada?

Out of the blue, the narrative changed. It was Spring 2020 and we were all at home, and people had time to think about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and had time to self-assess, to stop talking, and really listen. I thought, this is an opportunity for me and I’m going to make it count: Measure twice, cut once.

The question, ‘is it good enough?’ comes up as sort of an “out” for companies to not include Black talent. But you believe that excellence is the easy part – explain that.

Personally, I never tried to be excellent, I’ve only tried to exist like everyone else. The thing is, while I’d watch one person get a certain opportunity or achievement, it seemed that for me, I’d have to try and try again. You develop calluses, you develop muscles, you develop what others didn’t have to develop because of their privilege or position. So it’s not that you’re trying to be excellent, but you become that way because you get good at the grind. That’s where our excellence comes from.

You started the Black Designer Award of Excellence to spark a virtuous circle in place of a vicious cycle of defeat. Have you received feedback that it’s been impactful for designers?

It was a flood of responses. You know, sometimes it’s not even sales, it’s the recognition, which is why I created the awards. We’re not going to wait for another entity to say: You’ve been anointed! You count! Because we’re already staring excellence in the face.

House of Hayla has a signature style and an iconic single-colour heel. How’d you keep up momentum during a year of… well, not so many occasions for heels?

Right? Why would you even buy a four-inch heel while you’re sitting at home for a year? Well, one word: Instagram. Our sales stayed just the same. Because our customer couldn’t help herself, she needed that new outfit of the day to flaunt on Instagram, to show that, maybe, life was still beautiful: Here I am on my porch, in a sundress with yellow heels — take that!

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How did the idea for a monochrome heel come to fruition?

Hayla saw the sneakers I was designing [for Sully & Son] and was like: why is the monochromatic stuff always just for men? The red on red, the black on black? And we looked into the market, and I said, girl, you’re onto something! We started with one silhouette, monochromatic, 5 colours, vegan. And now there are a few styles and up to 25 colours. It’s such a unique type of way to match-out and colour-block your outfits. The sky’s the limit.

You yourself, though, you’re more into neutrals.

I’ve been wearing blacks and slight neutrals forever. I was always a fan of black and after visiting Japan for the first time, it just hardened my devotion for it. I prefer black for most of my toys, too —my motorcycle, SUV, and bike—but at home I’m a fan of vintage mixed with natural elements like concrete, wood and steel. Wearing black can’t make you cool, I just happen to be cool and wear black.