An interesting piece on Beyoncé’s Formation video by Dr. Nettrice Gaskins Renegade Futurism Beyonce and the secret society Trayvon Martin’s (Sandra Bland’s) birthday, Mardi Gras, Black History Month, Black Panthers’ 50th/Super Bowl’s 50th. Beyonce’s release for her latest song and music video, Formation, was strategically dropped today. Already, bloggers and critics are analyzing the video, so here I am taking …

The Kenyan duo 2manysiblings is back with the fashion & art project “Projected fragments” realized by Joseph Chege. Of all their work, this is the one I like the most – it really brings out the beauty and potential of Afrosartorial creativity. Enjoy!

Brent Luvaas, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Drexel University, is an expert of streetstyling and streetwear culture. His volume Street Style: An Ethnography of Fashion Blogging is forthcoming for Bloomsbury. As I wait to read this book, I go back to Luvaas’ other insightful writings on street culture, looking for cues to help me better flesh out my own research on African streetstylers – the Afrosartorialists. …

Here is the second part of my summary of NKA’s special issue on black fashion. I put a little commentary at the bottom. *** Bill Gaskins’ interview with Anthony Barboza traces the history of one of the most representative photographers of the African American fashion scene. Barboza, who worked for Essence, GQ and an array of major publications all through …

NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art is out with a special issue on black fashion, featuring articles by eminent authors and artists. Its goal, as stated in the introduction by the editor Noliwe Rooks (Cornell University), is to approach the subject as “a launching point for thinking about race, gender, politics, powers, and class” (4). This is a good resource …

Yesterday I launched the page of my research project on Facebook with the aim of reaching out to a diversified audience of scholars and enthusiasts of African fashion. My mission is to enhance the appreciation of Africa’s contribution to culture-oriented fashion and creative work in and outside academia. This means I will not use the platform to just promote my own writing, but …

An article by Laura Havlin that appeared in AnOther Magazine back in September is a good source to get acquainted with the afrofuturist aesthetic and to point to its influence on afrosartorial trends. In particular, Havlin notes the correspondence between the afrofuturist concept of non-linear time and the knowledge that space contains multiple geographies of dwelling and belonging. This is one way of pointing to the relevance of diasporic consciousness for cultural …

Laduma Ngxokolo is a prominent new designer from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. MaXhosa, his brand of men and women’s knitwear made with locally-sourced materials, is showcased at major fashion weeks in the continent and can be purchased at stores in South Africa, Namibia, the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Market projections are positive and so is the feedback from consumers and international actors, including Mercedes Benz and the Norwegian …

Nigerian brand IamISIGO released the lookbook of “Modern Hunters”, its SS2016 collection designed by Bubu Ogisi, with footwear by Tunde Owolabi. The brand reflects on heritage and the visual appeal of vibrant colors, creating “boy-meet-girl” garments that display a consciousness of the changing lifestyles of West Africans. Ogisi states on Instagram that the collection is spread across the idea of hunting being a “sport” …

Designers Africa Fashion Guide covers Adele Dejak’s latest collection of accessories named after the least valuable currency of Nigeria, Kobo. The accessories come in black and gold, respectively Dejak’s brand colour and a symbol of happiness, and are affordable, from $10 to 50. “Kobo represents urban culture and is for edgy people everywhere who want to stand out, who are …