The Glory Woman is proud, strong, and invincible– yet a delicate chameleon that adapts to every environment she walks into with love and grace. The faith-based fashion line returns to the runway for the first time since 2021 with the Spring Summer collection “The Light I Wear.”
Rethinking spring beyond florals and pastels, the collection transcends with a grounded color palette of brown and neutral hues, accented by ombres and solid sage greens. The driving force behind designer Jana Ele S is the dynamic lifestyle of the woman walking in her faith. Traveling from England to Spain to perfect her craft, Jana has returned to New York, solidifying it as her design home. This past fashion season, during New York Fashion Week, she joined the Runway 7 lineup, a multicultural space dedicated to showcasing emerging designers and global brands on a grand production scale and providing international exposure.
On February 13 at 3 p.m., the soundtrack of the Glory woman begins, opening with the heavenly gospel record “Glory to Glory to Glory” before seamlessly transitioning into Toni Braxton’s “He Wasn’t Man Enough for Me,” exemplifying the confident modern woman — strong in her faith and drawn to texture, range, and sophistication. With a diverse and inclusive model cast, in seven intentional looks, the grand runway is taken over by reimagined miniskirts in quilted nylon, lively, flowy trousers, and must-have corsets with elements of bridal and luxury couture. The women’s ready-to-wear line epitomizes luxury with high-quality fabrics and a harmonious necessity for a luxurious lifestyle– care and intentionality. “Luxury is more than a price point,” a sentiment Jana Ele S translated into the collection through luxury-grade spandex, taffeta, and crepe dresses, scarves, and blouses.
The closing look of the night, worn by a regal plus-size model, radiates the runway to a original mix of “I’m Every Woman” with a backing track of “He Wasn’t Man Enough For Me” in a blue silk horizontally-ombred maxi skirt and a subtly embellished corset. With the declining rate of size inclusivity on international and luxury runways, it’s refreshing to witness clothing that not only fits curvy models but flatters and accentuates their proudest attributes.
Coming of age as a faithful church kid, Jana’s confidence in her unique design footprint allows her to break through the crowded New York landscape with ease. “I’m not fighting to be seen. I’m not fighting to be accepted, I know I’m effective in whatever room I’m in,” says Ele S when emphasizing the importance of a collaborative and supportive mindset for other designers vs competitiveness. While killing them with kindness may sound cliché, it remains effective in the success of bringing the community onto the runway. This season, Glory welcomed collaborators Emmerse and Christian-based jewelry brand Ade and Grace.
Jana’s concept of love is the “flow of God,” translated into a broad, diverse, and realistic model representation in her collections. Love truly meets luxury when there’s attentiveness to a wide variety of body types in high-fashion and RTW clothing, despite the long history of runways favoring Eurocentric features.
While the fashion spectacle can be reduced to red carpet moments and fashion week seasons, The Light I Wear exemplifies what happens when we answer the call to exercise our gifts, despite society’s never-ending distractions that prevent us from walking in our true glory.
Although fashion moves fast, Glory calls to slow down and remain relentless in your purpose regardless of life’s trials or tribulations, a conviction prominent in the complex state of fashion for black-owned designer brands. Fighting to bridge the gap between the everyday black dollar and Black designers, beyond runway shows, honesty, accountability, and consumer feedback are what lead to real growth. As eyes shift to Black-owned brands, for better or for worse, Jana exclaims, “What we need more than the Black dollar is Black integrity,” instead of buying out of sympathy, supporting from a space of honesty and true enthusiasm.
While the future of Glory is bright, the upcoming fall collection will step into the complexity, range, and beauty of darkness, with a fashion film that redefines what edginess looks like in winter, offering looks that can take a woman from day to night.
With pre-orders launching April 1 and five percent of presales supporting homeless shelters, Jana encourages every woman who steps into Glory to remember: “It doesn’t matter if you haven’t seen an example of what you want to be; that doesn’t prohibit you from becoming it.”
As a walking testimony, Jana Ele S found the examples she never had in her environment and became her dream woman, gracing others with her dream wardrobe. “The Light I Wear” is merely one of many future collections for the modern woman, strong in her faith, vision, and individuality.
