With this statement, at the start of the exhibition, we are entering
the big hall seeing Beyoncé 's film "Black is King" streamed on a big
screen. Music, dance, costumes and sets are showing the beauty and
variety of multiple African cultures. The first hall contains artistic
creations made for the catwalk, couture (maybe not to go to the office:)
which immediately brings down the prejudice that black fashion only
exists out of streetwear.
The next space was a references to the colonial era, the Dutch VOC,
origins of the textile and cotton fabrics and slavery.
Also a big overview about the upcome of black models in the
fashionindustry beauty ideals and magazine
covers.
Another chamber was filled with designers influenced by music and
streetwear. This grew big the last decade, partly by the collaborations
with big sports brand like Nike and Adidas. The last years also the
designerlabels like Gucci and Dior used more divers cultural elements
and colloborated with black/colored designers. In this section upcoming
black designers as Kenneth Ize, Thebe Magugu, Telfar as well as Dutch
Daily Paper and Filling Pieces were represented. All integrating their
(cultural) background into the identity and work of their
brand.
The exhibition ended with statement and symbolic t-shirts/bags to raise
awareness about prejudices. Necessary; in 2017 (new numbers are not
available) only 1% of the designers showcasing in Paris and other big
fashion cities, were black.
“We want to inspire other third culture kids to acknowledge their roots.
We want to give the western world o broader perspective on African culture
through storytelling and design. Jefferson Osei, Abderrahmane Trabsini,
Hussein Suleiman, founders Daily Paper
“I want to show the industry that I am not one specific scenario, but that
the future of fashion can be diverse, also in advantage to the ecosystem.”
Virgil Abloh, men's artistic director Louis Vuitton
-- A major fashion exhibition entitled Voices of Fashion; Black
Couture, Beauty and Styles was set to open at the Centraal Museum. The
show was the first ever staged by an art museum in the Netherlands to
query the white gaze as the default vantage point from which to present,
wear and collect fashion. Underpinning the exhibition are years of
research by black, brown and white people that show that the fashion world
and our relationship with it continue to be shaped by the legacies of
European colonialism. Voices of Fashion takes you on a little told story
of fashion, with a stunning exhibition design by Afaina de Jong of
AFARAI.--
(Edit and images by Brenda)
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