I had the opportunity to see the traveling Victoria & Albert Africa Fashion exhibit at the only West Coast location, the Portland Art Museum. The exhibit includes over 50 outfits by more than 40 designers from 21 countries. Below are some of the ensembles that caught my eye.

Note: In some cases to focus on the dress and less on the people or ceiling lights, I removed the background. I also noticed that in many other posts about the show, the images did not include captions showing the artist’s name. If these were Renaissance paintings, for example, the artist would always be named in the caption. In each photo below, I’ve made sure to credit the designer. In cases where I didn’t have the name, I left the photo out.

Images

The very first garment I noticed was this vivid pink cape and trousers by Imane Ayissi. The richness of the color is captivating. The long fringe across the bust and down the sleeves and around the waist adds motion and texture.

Many of the designs include a palpable texture that felt alive. In the dress below by Christopher John Rogers, the soft ribbed neckline rims the quilted shoulder treatment. The tassels that hang from the bias tape would swing and swish when walking. Across the bust, the likeness of quilted eyebrows and stitched eyes compose a second face. The yellow material has a surface pattern of leaves.

In the Bull Doff dress below, the queenly architecture of the bias bound shoulder treatment is woven with horizontal strips of pink, orange, yellow, black, white, and blue. The collar is constructed of looped plates of the same colors sheltering the neck. The dress is constructed from vertical strips of the same colors and material.

The two ensembles below by NKWO are made of fringed denim strips. The variation in denim color is unified by the unified color of the fringe. Gathering the denim over the front of the bodice in the design on the right gives a look of a royal ornament using what is considered a casual fabric.

The exhibit included a deconstruction of the pattern for one of the dresses. The pattern below by Katungulu Mwendwa shows the neck and armscye facings, the center seam at the neckline, and the extension piece that forms the triangle in the front of the dress.

To dive deeper, check these exhibitor resources out:

• Inside the Africa Fashion Exhibit, Victoria and Albert Museum
• About the Africa Fashion Exhibit, Victoria and Albert Museum
• Cloth of A Continent: Africa Fashion, Victoria and Albert Museum
• Africa Fashion Exhibit, Portland Art Museum
• Africa Fashion Catalog, Amazon (I receive no commissions if you click or purchase.)