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Curated by Valerie Steele

White designers from Europe and the United States have dominated the modern fashion system. But in recent years there has been a growing emphasis on diversity and the inclusion of Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Hispanic/Latinx designers. At the same time, there has been growing criticism of the way White designers such as Yves Saint Laurent have utilized “exotic” design motifs and tropes that originated in other cultures. What is still sometimes regarded as cultural “appreciation” is increasingly perceived as “cultural appropriation.”

This playlist includes imagery of fashions created by members of the African diaspora, as well as designers whose work borrows from other cultures. It is also worth pointing out that not all cross-cultural borrowing is equally problematic.

Patrick Kelly was one of the first Black fashion designers to become internationally famous.  Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1954, Kelly was taught to sew by his grandmother. After failing to get a job in New York, he moved to Paris, where he established a successful career. Kelly’s style combined the iconography of Paris with design motifs associated with the Black experience, especially in the Deep South.  This ranged from denim overalls to controversial stereotypes. Kelly died in 1990 in Paris of AIDS-related illnesses.

Lamine Kouyaté was born in Bamako, Mali in 1961, a year after the African country declared independence from France. After studying architecture in France, he gravitated to fashion, and founded his company Xuly Bët in 1992. He was a pioneer in creating new fashions by reworking existing items of clothing, piecing together garments in unexpected ways.  Kouyaté points out that reusing material to avoid wasting it is typical of African and other “Third World” cultures. Other designers from the African diaspora include Joe Casely Hayford, Bruce Oldfield, Patrick Robinson, and Laurence Steele.