The Case Study Interview with 2026 Virgil Abloh™ "Post-Modern" Scholar Paige Sias explores the thinking behind her Loewe x Rollen's Raw Grains case study, which examines how a luxury fashion house could partner with a Black-owned rice farming company to move beyond aspirational brand storytelling and build a collaboration rooted in shared agricultural history and craftsmanship.
Paige is a recent apparel design graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her case study builds on her senior thesis collection, Places I Carry, Things I've Been, which traced agricultural traditions across her own family's history with sugar cane and the broader African American diaspora — research that led her to Rollen’s Raw Grains, a Hardeeville, SC company growing heritage grains native to the Lowcountry.
In the interview, Paige explains how she identified Rollen’s through a search for Black-owned businesses rooted in cultural and historical storytelling, and how Ralph Lauren's Oak Bluffs campaign informed her thinking about brands that use fashion to deepen cultural connection. She also discusses why she believes the future of cross-industry collaboration lies in shared values and history rather than product alone and offers advice for future Scholars on trusting their own perspective.
📲 Follow Paige's journey: LinkedIn | @paige_.sias
