041: Diaspora Dreams & Nature As Inspiration

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 🗞️

Here’s to a theoretically fashionable week with the annual turn on the Fifth Avenue staircase courtesy of the Met Gala. Beyond the obvious thematic choices, we’re touching down on a smattering of projects outside of fashion, including furniture, industrial design, and some exceptional art on the horizon.

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DISPATCH 041 —

This week, we’re adventuring into an archive sale in Accra, a technicolor dreamscape courtesy of Yinka Ilori, and cerebral design with Hamad Ouattara. Plus: an upcoming career survey with sculptor Simone Leigh and an off-schedule exhibition in Dakar. But first, museum acquisitions on the fashion front…

MUSEUM HOLDINGS UP

Beyond the stairs, we were keen to see behind the curtain of the latest exhibition Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The eyeballs outside of the famous gala are vitally important — not only from a canonical-meets-fabric of fashion history perspective, but also from the ground game perspective of aligning value to diaspora designers for the casual visitor who very likely is not familiar.

The premise of this spring’s exhibition (since the scrapping of the alleged original plan of a John Galliano retrospective) was to explore a broad survey of fashion objects inspired by nature spanning 400 years as well as archival pieces that are rarely on view due to their fragility. The curatorial selection of over 220 garments and accessories heavily leaned towards European, but a strong yet mighty handful of contemporary diaspora brands had their moment in the spotlight. Let’s take a look!

TORISHEJU

The very early days designer has secured some pretty incredible exposures — one of the last Edward Enninful’s British Vogue covers, a global buy from Dover Street Market, and the list continues with the seven-piece acquisition into The Met’s permanent collections. Inspired by Mami Wata, Torisheju Dumi’s 2023 collection embraces a particularly sobering aesthetic. The images don’t do justice to the bias-cut sculptural forms made of deadstock fabric. The puckering harkens to similar techniques to that of Feben, but something about the rippled edge also recalls techniques perfected by designer Stephen Burrows.

THEBE MAGUGU

In an exhibition dominated by European names, the curators also picked up from the Autumn 2023 collection “Folklorics” of South African designer Thebe Magugu. Leveraging a shipwreck print inspired by yet another site-specific narrative of a water based figure in African folklore, the ensemble takes center stage in a space dedicated to the role of sirens. This marked the fourth acquisition of Thebe Magugu into the permanent archive of the Costume Institute.

Other exhibited brands include Botter’s Spring 2023 “Black Heart” and “Second Skin Fish” dresses, but overall, the curatorial team certainly a missed opportunity to include a broader array of designers with anthropomorphic mythological inspirations in their oeuvres, including Maki Oh’s Look 10 from Fall 2015 “Mermaids” collection as one example. On an encouraging note: Erykah Badu was decked out in three head-to-toe looks for the Met Gala, including dreamy millinery, by Kingston, Jamaica-based label Francesca Lake.

Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion is open now through September 2.

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ON OUR RADAR

Cue our ongoing obsession with sculptor Simone Leigh — her first comprehensive survey featuring 20+ years of ceramics, bronzes, videos, and installation will open at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In their words, “addressing a wide swath of historical periods, geographies, and traditions, her art references hand-made processes from across the African diaspora, as well as forms traditionally associated with African art and architecture.” Opening May 26. (Link)

Ghanaian label AJABENG, founded by Travis Obeng-Casper, will host its first archive sale on May 25 in Accra. (Link)

In lieu of the since postponed Dakar Biennale to November, consider The OFF @RAW, a multi-day showcase of art and discussion highlighting the work of Zohra Opoku starting May 18. (Link)

Last week’s Financial Times: How To Spend It Dream Issue was guest-edited by multi-disciplinary artist Yinka Ilori and spotlighted perennial favorites and fresh faces, including Tolu Coker, Dye Lab, Herbie Mensah, and Labrum. Check out this super limited-edition print to celebrate this special issue. (Link)

Keen to engage with New York’s design community? Take note of this upcoming panel discussion “In Time: How Moments, Objects, and Inspiration Influence Great Design with Studio & Projects.” Studio & Projects, which also happens to be behind one of our wish list rugs, was founded by Little Wing Lee. Join in-person on May 20 at 50 Greene Street for discussion and great design. (Link)

Friedman Benda’s latest exhibition Under Present Conditions features Burkinabe designer Hamad Ouattara, whose artworks alongside Mabeo line the Wales Bonner space at Dover Street Market New York. Ouattara’s works contend with the implications of environmental threats and design’s response. Open through June 15. (Link)