Fashion Fix 004: Black and Brown Out

This week we highlight black and brown fashion stories as there are so many black and brown narratives/stories worth reading about. We want to share more with our community that are eager to learn and share! Please send us links to your fashion projects and we will do our best to feature you.

Iris Hall as Eve Mason in "The Symbol of the Unconquered" (1920). USA. Directed by Oscar Micheaux | Courtesy of the California African American Museum via KCET.

1. Acne, the Swedish fashion company, has slowly been building up to their latest campaign featuring Kaleb Anthony and Kordale Lewis. The couple became viral on Instagram posting about their daily life with their kids. Is this a win for fashion in diversity? We think so. as Acne  [Revelist]
2. Virgil Abloh has show up on the #fashionfix before. Abloh is the creative director of fashion label Off White, and is a rising star in the fashion world. He is quoted as saying: "Don't let Zara and Uniqlo educate you on the price of a garment." [Fashionista]
3. Scholar Kim Jenkins and Becca McCharen-Tran are collaborating on an important discussion that has waned publically: diversity in fashion. While think pieces are continuous in the zietgeist of fashion and art critique there former entity has not had public discussions about the lack of inclusion in its industry. The event is called "Fashion, Culture & Justice" and will take place September 11th at 7pm on Parson's campus. In the meantime, some required reading is Frances Sola-Santiago's article on the subject of diversity in fashion and she interviews a friend of the podcast! [Fashion Unfiltered]
4. On the podcast and blog we don't talk enough about the contributions of Robin Givhan to critical thinking in fashion. We are big fans of hers. She recently reviewed "itinerant street-style photographer" Elizabeth Bucar and her book “Pious Fashion: How Muslim Women Dress.” She gives a fair review that shows the necessity of Muslim women's perspectives on dress. [Washington Post]
5. Indian and Southeast Asian all across the globe have joined an effort to take back the bindi. The bindi is a traditional forehead embellishment that has been appropriated in tv, film, and music. Reading there stories resonated with me. This social media effort was as a form of social engagement on a subject that has alienated a large group of women. [Vogue]
6. Not to be too redundant, but a recent article by the Independent follows the career of newly appointed editor and chief of British Vogue, Edward Enniful, and his push for diversity in fashion. [The Independent]
7. In June, Bethany Yellowtail was featured in the LA Times and given a glowing review of her work and her rise in fashion. Yellowtail is apart of both the Crow Nation and Northern Cheyenne Indian tribe. Her work was featured in an exhibition called Native Fashion Now. [LA Times]
8. There has not been exceptional follow up on garment workers in the global fashion system but it is key to stay informed. Women make up the majority of the workforce in at the garment making level. The Fashion Law is one of the few sites investigating the global fashion system and its impact. [The Fashion Law]
9. Often the  role of film in understanding aesthetics of the time helps any scholar with creating their historical or theoretical narrative. The California African American Art Museum has an exhibition of artist Gary Simmons. In this exhibition, he discusses the erasure of black labor in the film industry. There will also be a viewing of black films most of which only survive in Spain under Spanish titles. [KCET]
10. Hey, Unravel fav Rihanna created a sock line that celebrates her iconic looks in a collaboration with Stance. Have you heard our episode with the lovely ladies of Locatora Radio? We discuss some of her more famous looks to date! [Stance]