Kwame Sarpong
Renowned Fashion Analyst, Kwame Sarpong, has lashed out at western fashion bigwigs for the lack of recognition of black cultural creativity – a major driver in global trends – particularly in luxury aesthetics and streetwears.
In one of his fashion reviews on social media, where he revealed how western designers took inspiration from black fashion despite centuries of constant harassment and criticism of their fashion style, Kwame emphasised that black creatives have been denied credit, fair compensation and creative control for decades, calling for awakening within the black race.
He stated that sagging dress style which was described back then as ‘ghetto’, which the black communities have been policed and harassed, is now described as subversive, revolutionary, even sometimes groundbreaking by the ‘white race’.
“They have stolen our aesthetic, repackaged it, given it some Italian tailoring, added a Parisian name on the label, and are now selling it back to us as status symbols, and we eating it up like absolute mumus. When I tell you the system is rigged, when I tell you it’s time to wake up and smell the damn coffee (sic),” he said.
Describing how Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from South Africa, exhibited in 19th-century European “freak shows,” had a profound, albeit often unacknowledged influence on European fashion trends, specifically the Victorian bustle, he said, “This lady is Sarah Baartman, who was trafficked, taken from her home in South Africa and paraded around Europe because of her voluptuous figure. People called her body grotesque and savage like Oh, but they were so fascinated with this grotesque and savage like body that she single-handedly inspired the 19th century staple, the Victorian bustle.
“Listen to what I’m saying. Something that they called grotesque and savage became the symbol of upper class Echelon dressing. And I see the same thing happening today. Mimi Gucci are now doing sagging. They are literally reframing, the things that we have always been punished for.”
Kwame Sarpong further added that, “We really need to rethink our relationship and what fashion means to us, because so many of the styles, the silhouettes, the attitude, the aesthetics, the vibes that literally dominate the industry, were born from black creativity.”
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke