we wanted to show a glimpse of that breadth of techniques and that long history within the exhibition. traditional cloth and artisanal craft are revisited in the modern designs of aisha ayensu s christie brown label. her architectural silhouettes have resonated with a global audience and seen the ghanaian designer dressing celebrities and entrepreneurs with her new take on power dressing. africa fashion once again defining itself. the whole idea around the brand is to use our, our tradition or inspiration from our tradition, our culture, our textile and all this, all this influence that we see around us every day. and create, like, interesting pieces modern, contemporary pieces that women all, the whole world round gets to experience and love, because it fits into her closet seamlessly, but still pays homage to that african heritage. there was an interesting
first stop, the buzz of makola market, the heart of commercial activity in the city and the place to find almost anything, including the traditional kente, the vibrant coloured handwoven cloth associated with this region. chic shops and cool restaurants are constantly opening up around the capital, and as a journalist covering fashion culture and the arts, it is easy to see why ghana s creatives have been inspired by this magical blend of the trendy and the traditional to produce work that has brought some of them global success. with both fashion and ghana being close to her heart, i paid a visit to lady ashley adjaye, wife of the internationally renowned architect, david. the couple left london to make ghana their home. we have seen constantly african designers making their mark on an international level. but it s not in a way where they re recreating
we re up here on the mezzanine floor at the moment. but downstairs, the exhibition jumps off from the era of independence. downstairs we have cloth from independence, we have the vanguard designers from independence. we have the photographers, so this idea of self definition through cloth, through fashion, through photography downstairs. so, the historical period is from 1957 to the mid 1990s to coincide with the end of the apartheid era. the story of agency begins in that swell of creativity that was the cultural renaissance. archive: my name is africa. gather round me. gather round my writers, musicians, artists. the 1966 film by william grays of the first world festival of black arts. this groundbreaking event featured over 2,000 writers, artists and performers
frightened of doing the unusual and pushing boundaries. i love this piece in kente, but of course, it wasn t the thing to do to tailor kente when he was working. he is seen as one of the first people to tailor and cut and make a garment from kente. traditionally, it would have been wrapped. in this period, it would have been wrapped. the other thing that i love is that apparently he made a pair ofjeans in kente which must have been scandalous then, because you re not supposed to do it. kente, originally, it s the fabric of the aristocracy. the significance of cloth in many african countries is the focus of a particular section of the show. you can t think about african fashions without first thinking about the place of the cloth. of course, the african continent has this long and industrious history of multiple fabrics and textile traditions, whether that is kanga, kente, ajare, print cloth.
the creatives making waves at home and abroad. first stop, the buzz of makola market, the heart of commercial activity in the city and the place to find almost anything, including the traditional kente, the vibrant coloured handwoven cloth associated with this region. chic shops and cool restaurants are constantly opening up around the capital, and as a journalist covering fashion culture and the arts, it is easy to see why ghana s creatives have been inspired by this magical blend of the trendy and the traditional to produce work that has brought some of them global success. with both fashion and ghana being close to her heart, i paid a visit to lady ashley adjaye, wife of the internationally renowned architect, david. the couple left london to make ghana their home. we have seen constantly african designers making their mark on an international level. but it s not in a way where they re recreating