Bursting with vibrant, colorful heritage and tradition, African fashion is as rich and innovative as the continent itself. The avant-garde style and cultural aesthetics of its hundreds of ethnic groups are just some of the many ways it connects with the rest of the world. Sadly, due to a lack of historical evidence, its evolution is difficult to trace, but when most of Africa gained independence in the middle of the 20th century, a surge of documentable, creative and inventive expression swarmed the mainland.
Thankfully, it hasn’t stopped growing since.
Now, the importance of African fashion, along with the continent’s numerous designers, models, photographers, illustrators and other creative professionals, are in the spotlight as part of the Brooklyn Museum’s most comprehensive exhibition of its type.
Opening this summer, from June 23 through Oct. 22, the “Africa Fashion” exhibit will feature more than 180 beautifully interlocking, vivid pieces that create and amplify a fully interactive, moving experience. Categorized by theme, the exhibit focuses on perspectives of artist recognition and cultural identity through clothing, textiles, music, literature and film, with features on pioneering fashion luminaries such as Chris Seydou, a.k.a. the Father of African Fashion Design (1949 – 1994).
Most noted for promoting African fashion designers on the international stage and for his own trailblazing masterwork with native Malian textiles that drew on his roots in Mali, West Africa – especially bògòlanfini, more commonly known as mud cloth – Seydou inspired the concept of African haute couture. He began his iconic work in 1969 Abidjan – when it was at the forefront of African fashion – by creating made-to-order clothing for many of the city’s most affluent and powerful ladies, using the traditional bògòlanfini cloth. He would then spend the majority of the 1970s in Paris, where he not only studied European couture but made a big splash in the fashion world, having tailored bògòlanfini into high-end, custom-fitted garments, all constructed by hand from start to finish, a testament to the textile’s ritual significance and original inception.
Created by the Bamana people in Mali, mud cloth, the translation of bògòlanfini is a true labor of love, history and culture. Manufacturing it was a physically intense process that started with a design forecast of at least one year prior, as the mud used to make the dye had to be harvested from rivers and ponds and fermented with herbs and spices in order to prepare it for tinting. During this time the men would weave locally-grown cotton into strips, sew them together and then dye the constructed cloth with an emulsion of pounded leaves and bark. After drying in the sun, the cloth turned yellow, at which point the artists – most commonly women – used the fermented mud dye to decorate the cloth. They’d mark off the fabric into three to five sections, creating distinct patterns for each (the patterns are determined by the person designated to wear the finished wrapper). A dark background is then produced around the motifs, by alternately applying mud, drying and washing the cloth over time.
Men who were hunters or warriors wore the fabric as tunics; the designs reflected protection. Women wore the wrappers for significant life events such as coming of age, consummation of marriage, childbirth and burial.
Also, while in Paris, Seydou met other African artists and designers, and together they organized the Fédération Africaine de Prêt à Porter (African Federation of Ready-to-Wear Designers), an association that sought to promote African designers on the international market. He was also one of the three founders of the Fédération Internationale de la Mode Africaine (International Federation of African Fashion), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that empowers fashion designers and creative professionals from Africa and its diaspora to succeed in the worldwide fashion industry. It continues to provide an important forum for African designers today.
Recognized as an ambassador between the African and European fashion worlds, Seydou showcased his designs on both continents, having worked with internationally renowned designers, most notably Raco Rabanne, and his designs have been published in many Ivorian, Senegalese, French, German as well as Malian fashion magazines.
Seydou’s work illustrates the unstoppable impact between local tradition and global markets, an often overlooked yet important contribution. Contemporary designers around the world have been using the bògòlanfini motifs in their designs for decades – Norma Kamali made it exceedingly popular during the 1980s in the United States – rarely giving credit to the source of inspiration. “Africa Fashion” aims to change that.
“This exhibition is an important presentation of African creativity that highlights not only fashion but also the dynamic diversity of talent coming from the continent,” says Ernestine White-Mifetu, Sills Foundation Curator of African Art at the Brooklyn Museum in a press release; she is also the organizer of the event.
“I am excited that the Brooklyn Museum will be able to host “Africa Fashion,” and I am elated that our New York visitors will have the opportunity to engage with the creative production of Africa in new ways. Fashion is both multidimensional and a fabulous creative statement.”
