"African" Inspiration

The Paris Spring/Summer 2009 catwalks last year were awash with "African" inspired fashions including designs from Marc Jacobs, Bernhard Wilhem, Alexander McQueen - just to name a few. The designers showcased accents of exaggerated "ethnic" hairdos, face paint and masks, grass skirts, beads and bangles and off course Leopard print. But, perhaps the most provocative designs that I saw were from Japanese Designer Junya Watanabe. His collection included towering flower carrying head wraps, colourful "African" motifs which were molded into dresses and tunics, and splashes of leopard print g-strings. These accents were effortlessly paired up with faded denim and bright gingham checks as described on style.com. As the models walked down the runway the sound of twittering birds, "tribal" beats and traditional female vocals (which probably traces back to West Africa) played in the background further emphasing the place where his inspiration originated. Having been raised in Africa, I couldn't help but pick up on certain stereotypes or perhaps a projected group identity which are often employed when representing the 'other' in this case most things African. These stereotypes often involve a 'fetishization' of the continent which has been handed down historically from generation to generation.




















Photos by: Marcio Madeira

As many scholars have often argued, clothing has always functioned as a regulatory mechanism, which not only shapes the body but ensures a confirmation of social and psychic norms. These symbolic relations which are signified by clothing are never finally fixed. However, the interpretation of African clothing has often centred from a European understanding where terms such as "ethnic", "traditional" and "costume" are often used when referencing non-western dress. This off course is extremely misleading because these terms connote a fashion that is unchanging and frozen in time. The Africa that Watanabe and many other designers reference is one that is based on fiction - a story dictated by the Europeans to the rest of the world. Perhaps we need to pay closer attention to the African motifs the Watanabe used in order for us to truly understand this ambivalent relationship that African fashion has with Europe. Printed 'African' fabrics which originated in Indonesia were first introduced to Europe by the Dutch. They in turn sold them to the English who later developed their own version of these fabrics which were to be sold to its colonies. Later the French introduced their own version of wax printed fabrics that they had been producing in India to be sold in French ruled West Africa. A number of factories have since been set-up all over Africa to imitate the "French copy of the English imitation" of wax printing that had originated in Indonesia. The irony of this process is how these fabrics have come to connote an 'authentic' African identity.

Printed 'African' fabrics have gained such popularity world wide that today they not only assert Afro pride and identity but, in Africa, they represent an independent African identity free of colonial rule. The paradox off course is that the very cloth that has come to signify African heritage also signifies a separation from the motherland. As these fabrics travel from continent to continent, they undergo a process of "authentification" - the authentic in this case is a sign born of "diasporic displacements with an impossible referent." (Rabine 159). So when fashion journalist Sarah Mower described Watanabe's collection on style.com as being "natural and unforced." it off course rings false because while he effortlessly creates a balance between the "tribal references" and his own signature style, his collection cannot be viewed outside of that which has been constructed. In other words, the motifs, the leopard print g-strings and the head wraps that are used to represent Africa are in themselves a form of mythology or fetishization.

In this technologically savvy world that we live in, one would hope that there would be a better sense of what Africa is today instead of the romanticized colonial image of what it once was. Perhaps the media is not concerned with an African sophistication but a struggling continent. The reality is that Africa is a lot of things but in fashion world Africa is only one thing.