the processes by which these and other designers make use of African forms and imagery

 In 2009, she again wrote of Africa’s presence on the

Figure 3

Reliquary figure, Fang, Southern Cameroon

and Northern Gabon, wood, metal, H: 42.5 cm

(17”), The Stanley Collection, University

of Iowa Museum of Art. Photograph by

Steven Tatum.

50 “Quelques modèles des intéressants

tissues de RODIER créés spécialement

pour l’exposition coloniale,” La

Renaissance de l’Art Français (May

1931): 256.

51 Paul Sentenac, “Les Tissus coloniaux de

Lesur,” La Renaissance de l’Art Français

(August 1931): 263.

52 “Des Bibelots Pris à l’Exposition

Coloniale Orneront Nos Costumes de

Plage,” Femina (August 1931): 20.

53 “Globetrotting,” Style.com (2002). (www.

style.com/trends/trend_report/072902/

index.html)

54 Suzy Menkes, “Next Stop, Africa.” The

New York Times Style Magazine (Spring

2005): 60.

60 Design Issues: Volume 25, Number 3 Summer 2009

runways, speculating about the relationship between fashion and

politics: “And is the current design passion for Africa a recognition

of Barack Obama’s roots?”55 Africa has appeared in diverse guises

including Jean-Paul Gaultier’s 2004 women’s haute couture designs

that were African-themed, with dresses named “Kilimanjaro,”

“Bambara,” “Abidjan,” sheath bridal gown ,  and “Ashanti.” In 2003, Donna Karan’s New

York runway show was an “Ode to Africa” that used the sound of

a drumbeat on the soundtrack, and presented “red-brown colors,

frayed hems, and broad-fringed belts that engulfed the short hems

of draped jersey dresses.”56 Other designers who have made use

of African images or themes since 2000 include Kenzo, Miguel

Androver, and Dolce and Gabbana.

While the processes by which these and other designers make

use of African forms and imagery differs little from past practices

(although the garments that result are certainly not copies of earlytwentieth-

century Africanisms) a new layer of complexity is added

through the presence of African designers in contemporary fashion

markets. African fashion designers are themselves participating in

the international sartorial discourse on Africa.  Japanese school uniforms .In 2009, New York

Fashion Week included the first major runway show devoted solely

to African designers.57 While not many designers from Africa have

attained wide visibility outside their countries of origin, several have

received international attention. Their expressions of their African

identities vary widely, but all struggle to avoid being confined by the

label “African designer.” Many engage with, and sometimes subvert,

the expectations that have been created by a long history of exoticism

in Western fashion markets.

http://beata21.exteen.com/20130322/reveals-that-african-women-dressed-in-their-8220-native-8221