Looking to the catwalks of Paris or New York for inspiration is quite possibly doing it wrong, if Australia's biggest ever gallery show of African fashion is anything to go by. The exuberant showcase of more than 200 garments, photographs and videos from London's Victoria and Albert Museum opens at the National Gallery of Victoria on Friday. It's proof that the contemporary pan-African fashion scene is absolutely buzzing, according to designer Dr Christine Checinska, who curated the show for the V&A Museum.
"I want people to be overwhelmed, in a good way, when they encounter the richness, the diversity, the innovation, of all of the work that's on show," she told reporters. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. "I think if we continue to only look at Europe and America for fashion direction and inspiration, we're absolutely missing out.
" The exhibition has arrived via New York and Portland, and its Australian showing includes six new acquisitions to the NGV's textiles collection, as well as commissioned photographs of local designers by Melbourne-based Thomas Suleiman Tumaini. It opens with a flagship attention-grabbing fuchsia pink silk and raffia outfit, a backless top styled with tailored trousers by Cameroonian haute couture designer Imane Ayissi. The show then explores the importance of cloth in African design, with strip-woven cotton from Ghana and indigo resist-dying from Nigeria.
While the Australian fashion industry oft.
