8. Africa Fashion at the Brooklyn Museum
Fashion is a lifestyle, an industry, and a statement in New York City. But rarely do we get the chance to understand what influenced our own clothing choices or the trends we follow. The Brooklyn Museum’s Africa Fashion exhibit encompasses a global sense of ingenuity, influence, and liberated creativity that stems from Africa’s won independence. The evolution of fashion within the continent was always present, but after its break from Europe in the 20th century, its clothing-based cultural renaissance reached our own country.
This installation explores that ongoing fashion revolution in the largest-ever presentation of African fashion, a collection of more than 180 artworks, including standout pieces from the Museum’s own collection. The arrangement of haute couture and ready-to-wear garments includes photographs, literature, sketches, music, film and catwalk footage, textiles, and jewelry as well. More than 40 designers and artists from 20 African countries are represented, many of which have never shown their work in the U.S. before. To celebrate African dress and its impact from the 50s to today, as well as the African artists featured in the exhibition – like Kofi Ansah of Ghana and Shade Thomas-Fahm of Nigeria – tickets can be purchased online until October 22nd, 2023.
