The image above and in the header shows the magnificent creation of the Dutch-Moroccan fashion designer and artist Karim Adduchi. This dress is made from old hand-woven carpets and was purchased in 2018 by the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (National Museum of World Cultures). TM 7155-1
Move over Paris!
September, the Month of Fashion! Every year many famous and upcoming designers show their new collections on the catwalks of Milan, Paris and Amsterdam. It’s the month in which every fashion-loving magazine maker (including online), influencer, stylist, model, trend watcher and designer can be found on the red carpet. But not just in the usual cities! What about Lagos, Casablanca and Tbilisi, for example? The Fashion Weeks haven’t been an exclusively European-American affair for a long time –this World Story will tell you more.
Western magazines for young people, such as Dazed and Confused and I-D-Vice, show shoots from all over the world and some of these titles also appear in countries like Nigeria.
Likewise The Native Magazine, the ultra-hip Nigerian mag, is now available in London, Paris and New York, and many other fashion cities.
In Nigeria, mentioned earlier, a fashion week has been held in the capital Lagos since 2011, and in Bogota, Sao Paolo, Jakarta, Fiji, Hyderabad, Seoul, Panama, Tbilisi, Casablanca too. Each one is a thriving fashion scene.
Exciting things happen there. Things which we here in the Netherlands generally know very little about. That’s a great shame of course.
If we look at the clothing stored in our museums of world cultures with different eyes, we can revise and enrich the history of fashion with different knowledge and insights.
Perhaps it is time for ‘the West’ to embrace this in its insatiable search for renewal and creativity. After all, isn’t that what fashion is about?