From Enslavement to Emancipation
Enslaved people sometimes used this headwrap to create beauty, identity, and resistance despite restrictions.
What is a tignon or head wrap?
This northern movement of Black Americans led to new urban styles and church fashion.
What is the Great Migration
This garment became a symbol of Black pride during the 1960s and 70s.
What is a dashiki?
Kangol hats, gold chains, and shell-toe Adidas were foundational in this genre’s fashion identity.
What is hip-hop fashion?
This Harlem-based designer is known as the Godfather of Urban Fashion.
Who is Dapper Dan?
Even with limited materials, enslaved people strategically altered or embellished clothing for this purpose.
What is self-expression or resistance?
African Americans in Harlem used fashion not just to look good, but to claim this social concept.
What is respectability or modern identity?
Activists like the Black Panthers intentionally wore this color to send a message.
What is black leather (or all black)?
This bold, oversized suit popular in the 1940s resurfaced as an influence in hip-hop aesthetics.
What is a zoot suit?
This designer became the first Black woman to win the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.
Who is Aurora James?
After the Civil War, freedpeople often wore formal attire to convey this new social reality.
What is freedom, dignity, or citizenship?
These male entertainers of the Harlem Renaissance helped popularize zoot suits and flamboyant dress.
Who were Jazz musicians
Civil rights leaders, including MLK, often wore suits to communicate power and respectability - a strategy known as this.
What is Sunday Best or respectability politics?
This hip-hop pioneer and entrepreneur launched a major luxury streetwear brand in the 1990s.
Russell Simmons (Phat Farm)?
This global pop star frequently uses fashion to celebrate Black history and African aesthetics.
Who is Beyonce?
This 18th-century law in Louisiana restricted the hair coverings of Black women but led to creative fashion expression.
What was the Tignon Law?
This women’s movement in the 1960s celebrated natural hair, Afrocentric clothing, and self-love.
What is Black is Beautiful
These long, flowing robes inspired by West African traditions were worn during cultural reclamation movements.
What are kaftans?
By blending high fashion with sneakers, Black creatives helped popularize this modern fashion category.
What is luxury streetwear or athleisure?
This Black avant-garde designer worked for Patrick Kelly and is known for bold buttons and playful silhouettes.
Who is Patrick Kelly?
Formerly enslaved people often saved what limited resources they had to purchase this iconic item, symbolizing pride and independence.
What is a suit or Sunday best outfit?
Formerly enslaved people often saved what limited resources they had to purchase this iconic item, symbolizing pride and independence.
What is a suit or Sunday best outfit?
This specific textile pattern became globally recognized as a symbol of Pan-African identity.
What is kente cloth?
Before high-fashion labels copied the look, these local boutiques and city vendors were the original birthplace of streetwear trends.
What are Black neighborhood beautyshop or inner-city fashion scenes?
This luxury creative director became the first Black designer to lead a Parisian heritage house (2021).
Who is Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton?