Afrosartorialism

The Research Collective for Decolonizing Fashion is a transnational network of scholars that was established to highlight diversity in fashion and encourage investigation of non-European systems and cross-cultural perspectives on them. I contributed a post to their blog, sharing some figures in support of my thesis that the cultural work around street fashion that happens on Instagram advances an alternative …

Last month an article on Afrosartorialism appeared in Italian in Il Giornale delle Fondazioni. I’m especially happy about this feature because this is Italy’s principal platform focusing on cultural governance and innovation. I have been in touch with the author, Claudio Calveri who is digital strategy at DeRev Lab and expert of cultural innovation, since the beginning of my research. …

The universe of African fashion films is diverse and under-investigated. Most of the times they are left out of discussions of African fashion in spite of an uptick in their production and the positive reception on the continent. Given fashion’s heavy reliance and emphasis on storytelling for branding and marketing purposes, this lack of attention is hard to explain. In my …

Clinton Malik is a creative, style blogger and fashion model from Kenya with a visionary style that mixes afrofuturism and nostalgia. Since starting “Be your own creation” (BYOC) in May 2015, a brand promoting originality, creativity and self-worth through fashion, travel, art and music, he has built a solid reputation as a community-focused stylist and a big following on social …

Maison ART/C is the Moroccan fashion house launched by the Israeli designer Artsi Ifrach, renowned for sumptuous items characterized by an eye-catching use of color and prints. The garments are all made on request and  from recycled materials.   “Beautiful sadness” is the maison’s new collection lensed by Mous Lamrabat for Hub of Africa in Addis Ababa. I love the …

Duro Olowu is known chiefly for two things: a style that mixes prints and textures (dubbed “Prints Charming” by Helen Jennings) and his endorsement by former First Lady Michelle Obama, who also had him decorate the Vermeil Room of the White House for Christmas. Since establishing his brand in 2004 following an experience with his former wife and winning New Designer of …

I was looking forward to sharing news of my collaboration with the recently-launched magazine The Art Momentum for days but have been busy traveling, translating and looking after the little one so it had to wait until today. The Art Momentum is a beautifully curated platform that offers a look into African and Afrodiasporic artistic approaches and narratives that shift …

Last month Vlisco&Co unveiled a multimedia project on Igbo culture that includes a collaboration with artist Yagazie Emezi and designers Fruche and Gozel Green. In “Present and Forgotten – An amalgamation of Igbo culture ” Yagazie revisits a topic that is dear to her heart: preserving Nigeria’s ethnic memory and knowledge. For Vlisco she created a series of shots of culture-sensitive styles …

Theo Marboah, a student of medicine at Pavia University, has a passion for contemporary African and Afrodiasporic visual culture. I had the chance to hear Theo speak in Palermo at Resignifications: The Black Mediterranean, where he introduced “Echoes and Agreements” (“Echi and Accordi” in Italian), an ongoing digital experiment that uses diptychs to bring together archival images from the Black diaspora …

Stephen Tayo is a documentary photographer whose street shots capture everyday life in Lagos. Many of such pictures reflect self-styling practices and dress cultures in urban and rural contexts. They are therefore a great source of research and learning if you are interested in Nigerian street fashion. Tayo’s work has been featured in Vogue,  It’s Nice That, and Coeval Magazine. …