The Afro Aesthetic

Many people may know of mud cloth but have no idea of on how it is made or even what it’s traditional use is. I have always had an attraction to mud cloth as a textiles. It’s visual qualities have such a rich organic beauty to it. Mud cloth is traditionally given to people as a gift when ever a person reaches major point of transition in life, such as birth, marriage, and death. Mud cloth is traditional made by women, the techniques and motifs are passed down through generations. It is a symbol of spiritual power and belonging to African culture. Mud cloth always tells a story and no one design is the same each piece of fabric has it’s own biological print just like finger prints. The design of the print, the color, the motifs and the shape of the fabric all are important factors to creating the story and reviling wondrous secrets. Mud cloth is also used to define a person’s social status, character or occupation.

It origins is believed to resides in Beledougou region of central Mali but in known to be a long practice tradition by the Bamana people,who are members of Mande Culture that inhabit in the east and north of Bamako in Mali which is located in West Africa. A example of the cloth being used as a social status is when a couple gets married and move into their new home, family and friends come to the couple’s house to visit and give them praise and blessings while being there they also admirer the couples new home. Mud cloth is hung up on the walls, draped over couches and beds to present their new status as a family. In my household we use mud cloth as many things from decor to clothing.

THE PROCESS

                First natural fiber are weaved together into narrow strips of cloth. The strips are then sewed together to achieve the desired width of the fabric awaiting the design process.

                    The first step in the designing process is dyeing the fabric. Plant fibers are crushed and boiled in a pot to dye the fabric. Then the dyed piece are placed out into the sun to dry.The dyeing process is repeated once more to ensure color

       Once the cloth is dry the artist uses mud that has been fermenting for a year as the median to apply the design on the fabric (HIT: the reason why it is nicknamed Mud Cloth) . The artist uses stencils, brushs, sticks and many other tools to create the print. Sometime instead of applying mud to achieve the design a solution is used to bleach out design patterns on the fabric.

                                   Once the designing process is done the excess mud is wiped away, the fabric is then dyed one more time and place out into the sun to dry.Then it is ready to be sold.

VICE Magazine : In Color — Minorities experience in the Fashion Industry featuring Lizzy & Darlene Okpo of William Okpo — Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs of Street Etiquette 

Darlene and Lizzie Okpo Ages: 28 and 24 Occupation: Designers of William Okpo Hometown: New York, New York Ethnicity: Nigerian-American

"Our experience in the fashion industry has always been a hot and cold situation. They pre-judge what and who we are. We are often seen as the designer sisters who do streetwear. We look at that and say, Our aesthetics can sometimes be no different than Carven or Alexander Wang, why are we streetwear and they are considered ready-to-wear? Even if they see the collection, they still consider it urbanwear even when it is full of suit jackets and flowy dresses.

"We grew up watching Martin and the character Shanana was a typical person we would see in our neighborhood. I find it so funny that now Vogue, who has been scared of that woman who shook her head and rolled her eyes, puts her in their editorials with baby hairs, Timberlands, and bamboo earrings. I felt like that was something that we were told, ‘You better not do that’ because then we would be a stereotype. Then you see white men walking down the runway with du-rags. They think they are showing appreciation, but I see it as mockery because I couldn’t do it. If I do it, it is considered urbanwear. If they do it, it is considered art." - Lizzie

"In the beginning, we were two young Nigerian-American girls, and often we didn’t see people who looked like us. When we first started, we went to a factory and they thought we were the interns—and that still happens. I think the hardest part was going into a meeting or factory and really standing your ground and not fitting that stereotype that they do put on you, that we are urban. The biggest thing has been proving ourselves and it’s heartbreaking.

"We are trying to be that positive energy for young girls. There aren’t a lot of programs that are fashion based, where you could just tell a girl who grew up in Bed-Stuy that she could be a fashion designer. [Blacks] have a lot of buying power, and we spend a lot of money, but we aren’t represented on the business side. It’s hard when you are the only one. I have so many girlfriends who can say the same thing: ‘I am the only black girl in this big company.’ You don’t want to talk about it, but sometimes you have to." - Darlene

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Street Etiquette

Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs Occupation: Founders of Street Etiquette Ages: 25 and 25 Hometown: New York, New York Ethnicity: African and West Indian

"We created Street Etiquette because there wasn’t a voice for black culture in fashion as far as young men go, but at the same time we just needed to express ourselves. We didn’t come out saying this is the new black cultural perspective, but people labeled it that because it was something new and refreshing. Even in the way we research style, we look at West Indian, Caribbean, and African style and mesh that with what that would look like today in a modern way. I think combining different worlds and different aesthetics brought about a new culture.

"You’ll see now in different details in the fashion industry that people are borrowing things from minorities, specifically black culture like baby hairs, finger waves, du-rags, Air Force Ones, and Timberlands. These are all facets of different cultures, and black culture is being embraced by the fashion industry. It is much more concrete now, but before it was like they wouldn’t associate themselves with it. Everyone is inspired by something, but you also have to know where to draw the line." – Josh

"I feel like a lot of the times when we have these conversations, they are more negative than positive. We already get discriminated against so much that if you are trying to enter into a field and you are a minority, you are already looked at in a certain type of way, so we created our own space. I don’t think the fashion world really embraced us with open arms. It was more of this new way that people looked at the internet and things to be inspired by, not so much what’s happening in fashion.

"My girl was telling me about this London brand’s T-shirt that has a Jamaican man hanging from a tree and at the bottom it says ‘Batty Boy,’ which means gay in Jamaican. It is something political and the undertones are good because the [people wearing the shirts] are gay men, but they are also white. You can’t really do that. I think people in fashion have been notorious for that. Even if they think they understand it, they are too far removed from it." – Travis

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Read the article to see the other talented folks who features as well! 

A Continuous Journey – Viviane Sassen Pikin Slee at ICA London

The “Pikin Slee” images by contemporary photographer Viviane Sassen are currently on show at ICA London. Shot mainly in black & white and of contained format, Sassen’s series of abstract compositions and elusive subjects are an exploration of the beauty of the everyday, an investigation of the sculptural qualities of the ordinary.

The exhibition runs until the 12th of April 2015.

Nigerian Designer I A M I S I G O