NEW YORK — Timed to coincide with Black History Month and New York Fashion Week in February, the Pratt Institute’s exhibition “Black Dress: Ten Contemporary Fashion Designers” celebrates the groundbreaking oeuvre of ten contemporary New York-based African-American fashion designers, both established and up-and-coming.
Ongoing till April 26, the exhibition includes works by such names as Stephen Burrows, Tracy Reese, Byron Lars, Omar Salam, and Carrie Mae Weems, and is organized by Pratt’s fashion professor Adrienne Jones to create larger awareness of the triumphs, accomplishments and entrepreneurial savvy that African American fashion designers have achieved in the industry to date. It is co-curated by Jones and Paula Coleman, an art dealer and exhibition developer.
The designers featured in the show draw on a long history of black fashion design in America, which dates back at least as far as the 1860s when Elizabeth Keckley became a dressmaker for Mary Todd Lincoln (wife of Abraham Lincoln). In fact, Keckley was among many tailors and dressmakers who made clothes for other politicians and members of high society in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ann Lowe famously designed Jacqueline Bouvier’s 1953 wedding dress for her marriage to John F. Kennedy, while Reese — a board member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) — is notable for being one of First Lady Michelle Obama’s go-to designers for major events.
“Black designers are emerging on the scene with greater visibility than ever,” said Jones in a statement. “‘Black Dress’ will highlight the correlation between entrepreneurship, creativity, and locality. These factors work together to create opportunities for designers and their communities to become new destinations where fashion excellence and achievement are measured.”
In conjunction with the exhibition, a panel discussion on the contributions of African American designers will be held on March 5, including panelists such as Michaela Angela Davis, former executive editor at Essence; Julee Wilson, style and beauty editor at the Huffington Post/Black Voices; Harriette Cole, former editor of Ebony, Essence, and Uptown magazines; and Elaine Welteroth, beauty and health director at Teen Vogue.
“Black Dress: Ten Contemporary Fashion Designers” is a free exhibition at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, 144 West 14th Street, 2nd Floor, on till April 26, 2014.
To see highlights from the exhibition, click on the slideshow.
