Museum at FIT celebrates black fashion

Gowns from the Eveningwear section of the exhibit

Patrick Kelly, Anne Lowe, Cross Colours, Andrew Ramroop, Sean Jean, Cushnie et Ochs, Willi Smith…these are a few of the names featured in The Museum at FIT’s exhibition Black Fashion Designers, which celebrates black fashion designers and their impact on the industry, and opens a dialogue about diversity and inclusion in an industry that blacks are more than instrumental in the success of.

Exhibition section on Street Influence

WILLI SMITH DAY T-SHIRT. Cotton knit, 1990, USA, 90.56.12, gift of Matthew Olszak.

The exhibit, which debuted on December 2016 and runs through May 16, 2017, draws from the Museum at FIT’s extensive permanent collection and features around 75 objects dating from the 1950s to the present, as well as more than 60 designers.

Celebrating the diversity of fashion.

There are beautiful 1950s evening gowns; quirky, racially and socially influenced fashions of the 1980s; there’s African influences and modern, contemporary pieces; there are pieces from clothing lines influenced and started by hip-hop artists. The established, well known designers mixed with the lesser known, new designers. The exhibition even takes on cultural appropriation by high fashion designers – with little understanding or sensitivity – and how blacks are more apt to celebrate this heritage than exploit it.

PATRICK KELLY DRESS (LEFT) Wool, plastic, fall 1986, USA, 2016.48.1, museum purchase.

DURO OLOWU ENSEMBLE (RIGHT) Cotton and silk lace, silk charmeuse, wool and silk crepe, fall 2012, England, 2016.65.1, gift of Duro Olowu.

PATRICK KELLY BROOCH. Plastic, 1987-1990, France, 2010.30.4,, gift of Gloria Steinem.

The exhibition also looks at the impact that black fashion models have made on the industry, as muses to some of the most widely celebrated fashion designers and photographers.

Black designers celebrated the sexy, disco-influenced style of the 1970s

The Museum at FIT set out to provoke conversation about the impact of blacks in fashion, whether as designers or models, or as inspiration to mainstream designers. It calls attention to the fact that while there are many black fashion designers, only a few have received wide recognition and accolades.

Activism and protest has always been a part of the black community. Fashion is a big part of how we protest.

According to the Museum at FIT, Black Fashion Designers is meant to enliven the conversation about historic and ongoing issues of diversity within the fashion industry. It honors the creative talents of designers who are often overlooked and provides a fresh, holistic view of the fashion industry, emphasizing the significant roles in culture and society played by black designers.

The African influence in fashion.

STELLA JEAN AND CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN BOOT. Cotton, fall 2015, Italy, 2015.4.5, gift of Stella Jean.

Black fashion designers work in a broad range of styles, expressing individual ideas, emotions, and attitudes. Some draw from their African diasporic heritage, while others work in a western fashion tradition. Still others combine all manner of inspiration, construction techniques, and aesthetics. Each one approaches design from a unique perspective, and it is that diversity which most enriches fashion.

Menswear section of exhibition, including items from Sean John, Maurice Sedwell, and Wales Bonner.

The exhibition is divided into nine themes: Breaking into the Industry, The Rise of the Black Fashion Designer, Eveningwear, Street Influence, Activism, Menswear, Black Models, African Influence, and Experimentation.