Africa Fashion Africa Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum , London, July 2, 2022–April 16, 2023 Brooklyn Museum , New York, June 23, 2023–October 22, 2023

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Nationalities and birth and death dates are included within the opening text for each designer at the Brooklyn Museum.2 The wall text and object captions for Africa Fashion often differed between the V&A and the Brooklyn Museum: sometimes just small edits and other times large conceptual changes. Within this review, I will indicate these differences through citations. If I do not cite a museum when referring to written materials, it is because the text was the same.3 I was first introduced to the term “hair portraits” through an August 26, 2014 feature on Vogue.com. The feature was called “Forces of Nature: 28 Afropunk Hair Portraits by Artist Awol Eriku” and it was edited by Marjon Carlos.4 In contrast, White-Mifetu and Malvoisin change the opening lines to “During the mid-twentieth century, a new wave of creative expression swept across Africa as much of the continent began to gain independence from European colonial powers—largely the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.”Additional informationNotes on contributorsRachel LifterRachel Lifter is Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of NYU’s master’s program in Costume Studies. Her current research focuses on New York City in the 1980s, the people who worked in the fashion industry at that time, and the impact of the AIDS epidemic on this workforce. rachel.lifter@nyu.edu