FASHION
Breaking Men’s Wear Barriers — in 2026
LONDON
— The young black man stands defiantly on the grass in front of the
tin-roof bungalow, separated from the house via a pastel-colored fence
and a dusty sidewalk that cracked long ago under the searing African
heat.
Staring
straight into the camera, he proudly sports black leather brogues,
knee-high green school socks, tight white polo pants — and a billowing
peach silk robe, covered in flowers and slashed to the navel. Plus a
glittering pink belt and cocked pirate hat. Gardeners’ gloves encase his
hands, while endless loops of heavy gold chains hang from his neck.
This
is one of 60 images in a new exhibition called “2026,” a small but
powerful show at Somerset House in London through Aug. 29 focusing on
how masculinity is defined through dress, and how that may change in the
next 10 years.
The
project is jointly curated by the London-based stylist Ibrahim Kamara
and the Johannesburg photographer Kristin-Lee Moolman. It is part of a
larger group of displays and performances, “Utopian Voices Here and
Now,” showcasing explorations by young British-based artists around the
issues most affecting them, like the body and gender, sexuality and
race.
The
“2026” installation focuses on presenting an idealized vision of black
masculinity 10 years into the future, by challenging current
heteronormative attitudes to self-expression through fashion (although
these are increasingly dissolving, if current catwalk trends are
anything to go by).
Mr.
Kamara, 26, a soon-to-be Central Saint Martins graduate who was born
and raised in Sierra Leone, created the project as part of his degree in
fashion communications and promotion after a monthlong residency in
Johannesburg alongside Ms. Moolman, 29, whom he met on the internet.
The
duo scoured the city’s Dumpsters and thrift shops for fabrics, which
they then reworked into contemporary garments, with a view to shaping
self-expression for the black male body.
“I
wanted to create a utopia where you can be whatever you want to be,
without emphasis on masculinity or sexuality,” Mr. Kamara said last
week, as he put the finishing touches to the large-scale photographic
prints of young African men in dresses now hanging from the walls of
Somerset House, one of Britain’s grandest palaces. “I wanted men, in
particular black men, to just be able to be and breathe like every other
type of man has been able to breathe for centuries, without the
pressure and policing of black masculinity lingering over them.”
So
one photograph depicts a young man in an embrace, wearing a white ball
gown, socks and city brogues, a cowboy hat, jewels and both evening and
boxing gloves.
Another
look evokes a 16th century swashbuckling pirate-meets-Soweto-schoolboy,
teaming a rich padded ocher velveteen jacket and frilled white gloves
with a David Beckham soccer shirt wrapped like a sarong and yellow
soccer socks.
And
in another, two men stand side by side in sleeveless gold buttoned navy
blazers and multiple layered pairs of super low-slung, belted baggy
jeans, sporting black hats and blond side curls like those worn by
Orthodox Jewish men.
“‘2026’
is an escapism, it’s all the things I long to be, it’s the black man I
aspire to be: expressive, confident, not holding back, regardless of
sexual orientation, gender or race,” Mr. Kamara said. “Kristen and I
wanted to present images that are uplifting and positive, as the image
of black sexuality is consistently being ripped apart.”
By
using Johannesburg’s back streets as sets and locals as their models,
the project also highlighted the energy and creativity of the young arts
scene in that city, which Mr. Kamara and Ms. Moolman believe is
consistently overlooked by the media, or distorted by the stereotypes
anchored in poverty and violence that have come to define South Africa
internationally.
“It
has become my personal mission to change the way people perceive Africa
and especially Johannesburg,” Ms. Moolman said. “There is an explosion
of talent here right now. Everyone is creating, whether it is clothing,
art, music or imagery.” She added that the digital era meant that the
city’s creatives had become far more aware of the work of their
contemporaries in cities like London, Berlin and New York.
Post a Comment