The Future of Fashion Is Being Shaped by Afrofuturism, These Black artists are wishing brighter futures into existence while fusing a euphoric mosaic of inspirations.
We may imagine the kind of future we want to live in through fashion, music, and all other forms of creativity. However, looking to the future is incomplete without having a good understanding of the past, and Afrofuturists are offering their visions of the future that are based on this very understanding.
Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic that explores alternative narratives for the Black experience and is influenced by science fiction, fantasy, and history.
The diverse variety of artistic expression that falls under this heading is influenced by racial relations, class, and a history of colonialism.
Afrofuturism is a way to resurrect, link, and recreate colonized people’s native cultures and traditions, whether they are found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, or any other historically colonized countries for that matter. Black creatives across the continent and beyond are taking control of their stories and articulating their futures without the influence of the West.
Giving Folx Their Flowers
Afrofuturism has been forming in the visual arts, music, and literature for decades, but Marvel’s Black Panther gave the general public a visual vocabulary for what such a future would look like.
Author Octavia Butler, free-jazz musician Sun Ra, who fused Egyptian mysticism and sci-fi iconography, and American singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe, whose 2018 album Dirty Computer and its accompanying film explore queerness in a technologically advanced future, are among pioneers.
According to Ernestine White-Mifetu, co-curator of Africa Fashion at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, “African creativity has attracted more attention during the past ten years.
Just so happens that the two main interests right now are fashion and music. Visual arts were the focus five years ago, and they still are today. There are various reasons for this, some of them are socioeconomic because social media and other kinds of media provide creatives more access to a worldwide audience.
The appreciation of talent outside of the African continent has also been linked to ideas of luxury.
“Over the past ten years, there has been a heightened interest in African creativity,” says Ernestine White-Mifetu, co-curator of Africa Fashion at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City.
Currently, the two main interests are just fashion and music.
Visual arts have remained the same over the past five years as they always have.
There are various reasons for this, some of them are socioeconomic because social media and other media outlets are allowing creatives to reach a larger audience on a global scale.
It has also been connected to concepts of luxury that the talent is valued outside of the African continent.
Designer Jameel Mohammed created the Afrofuturist jewelry and clothing line Khiry in opposition to the White elite language that has always dominated the luxury market.
As an undergraduate, he visited Japan for a summer study abroad program and met the CEO of a luxury company, who asserted that only Paris and Milan could produce genuine luxury goods.
“His backward outlook felt like the epitome of all the colonial assumptions about brown people, their cultures, and their state of development.
It was very clear that that was not the future, says Mohammed.
As a philosophical guideline for his work, he draws inspiration from the history of Black power-inspired protests and civil rights movements. “I’m asking, ‘How do we look at those different results and the strategies employed and try to build a culture around those learnings through object-making and experience-making?'” he writes.
These influence so many aspects of our daily lives, aspirations, and sense of self in the world.
Before the concept of Afrofuturism became personally significant to Mohammed, he began Khiry: “I was thinking of it more as just influence from the African diaspora.
I now understand that we will need to advocate in a more assertive and organized manner.
I can see that. The future generation of this movement is being built by Black creatives, in my opinion.
He mentions designers like Brandon Blackwood, whose viral tote bag bearing the slogan “End Systemic Racism” made a hit in 2020 during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Luxury now exists at the singular crossroads of accessibility and exclusivity because of digitalization. “Because luxury is so closely associated with power, there is a basic tension within it. In that sense, it is about addressing existing hierarchies in the world and even strengthening them in certain respects.
In order to tell Black people that “the way that this business has regarded us need not be how we view ourselves,” Mohammed adds, “I think that I’m using part of that natural tendency of luxury to call into question such hierarchies.
Off The Pedestal
Adeju Thompson also strongly identifies with the notion that all cultures should be given the same value. Thompson is determined to access codes from all over the world after his label Lagos Space Programme won the International Woolmark Prize 2023.
“While my work is heavily influenced by my African history and identity, I don’t let that define who I am.
The cultures and materials I consume influence the LSP language, but everything is interpreted through a Nigerian lens.
“A marriage of two different worlds,” according to Thompson, best represents his art. For instance, the collection ‘Project 7/Post-Adire’ aims to ’emphasize the connections between western tailoring norms and the romance of traditional indigenous aesthetics of dress’. According to Thompson, the term “adire” refers to an ancient method of indigo dyeing.
Adire cloth is worn by people on important occasions.
The storytelling component is what distinguishes it as unique. Each motif has a purpose, and the approach is extremely methodical. In more recent times, queer communities have also communicated through signs, objects, and gestures that have special significance to them.
This concept of Adire as a queer archive developed over time. The designer’s confidence grows along with his own sense of queerness.
Afrofuturism is one term, nonetheless, that Thompson does not employ to describe his work. Instead, he chooses “African Futures,” which he describes as “not some fancy idea. African Futures is deeply based on my experience and how I view the world. Just by being here, I contribute to the conversation. It speaks really nicely to my dream, of futuristic African fashion when I just put things together.
Africa Fashion’s “Politics And Poetics Of Craft” section also goes into length into the continent’s textile histories. It’s wonderful to see people gain a better grasp of how the history of clothing and textiles on the African continent is a living heritage that today’s designers are continually referencing, adds White-Mifetu.
“You see Afrofuturism very clearly in ‘Afrotopia,’ which is one of our six sections,” her co-curator Annissa Malvoisin continues. Here, we highlight designers who have a utopian perspective on the future.
For instance, the fantastic trenchcoat-burkha combination made by designer Maison ARTC for Africa Fashion.
He blends the trenchcoat, which is distinctively associated with the London sartorial aesthetic, with the burkha, which is distinctively associated with Muslim modest attire, to produce this futuristic intercultural discussion.
Boppin And Poppin
It is apparent that the diverse variety of artistic expression produced by an entire continent and its diaspora is not homogeneous, and culture means different things to different individuals.
Lagos- and London-based As undergraduates in London, Ola Badiru and Jimmy Ayeni founded the company Vivendii to represent their way of life.
They reflect the effects of growing up during the MTV era in their WordArt placements and retro-inspired graphics: We’re new to the internet.
When we were young, the vivid colors we saw when using Microsoft Word and MSN truly affected us. Using Vivendii, we may relive our youth, claims Ayeni.
In addition, Badiru explains the significance of the t-shirt bearing the slogan “Stronger than Pain,” explaining that it is part of the African identity to be able to create diamonds under pressure. Nigerians experience a lot, yet they are resilient and always overcome the suffering.
Other works, like the t-shirt “Operation Vomit Your Dollars,” mimic extravagant church ceremonies that assure followers of material wealth or scholastic success for their children in order to convey Badiru and Ayeni’s skepticism regarding organized religion.
Their concurrent musical project, Vivendii Sound, reflects their naive, immature approach to culture creation. We turn to the future with some of the newest hyper pop, trap scenes, or EDM, or we pull from the past with 80s funk. In addition, we place a lot of emphasis on Fuji music and Afrobeats from our own Nigeria, says Ayeni.
White-Mifetu and Annissa Malvoisin also tapped into the appeal of music on a global scale while creating African fashion.
“You see Afrofuturism very clearly in ‘Afrotopia,’ which is one of our six sections,” claims Malvoisin. Here, we highlight designers who have a utopian perspective on the future.
Giving the tourists the idea that Africa is a continent with 54 countries and getting rid of the generalization of just mentioning “Africa” was a key part of our redesigning. With the help of our modes of representation, you may establish a historical context and a sense of place inside the African continent thanks to its independent past.
Content courtesy of Grazia & NFH Digital Team
