Love Fashion Love Vintage: Vintage for Black History Month and Every Month

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Vintage for Black History Month and Every Month

This dress is from Saint Laurent's "African" collection, his first to look beyond Western fashion. Stylized African motifs and patterns are used to evoke traditional tribal clothing and jewelry. Although inspired by African design, the intricate beading and embroidery were accomplished using materials and techniques typical of couture embellishment.

Yves Saint Laurent evening dress, 1967 from the Musum of Fit

(L) Patrick Kelly 'Ghanian kente cloth' ensemble, spring 1988 / (R) Stella Jean dress of Burkino Faso wax prints, fall 2015

“I’m keen to discover fabrics that people think are produced in a particular location and show them it’s actually a different story altogether,” said designer Stella Jean. Wax prints are often referred to as African fabrics, but in fact are appropriated from African culture and made in Holland. This dress with sharp Italian tailoring incorporates wax prints Jean commissioned from African artisans in Burkina Faso.

(L) Patrick Kelly 'Ghanian kente cloth' ensemble, spring 1988 / (R) Stella Jean dress of Burkino Faso wax prints, fall 2015

Donyale Luna (born Peggy Ann Freeman), model and actress the first African-American Cover Girl and is also considered one of the first Black supermodels. She was the 1st African American model to appear on the cover of British Vogue.

Donyale Luna

Peggy Dillard-Toone was the second African American woman to appear on the cover of Vogue (Beverly Johnson was the first “Black” woman on the cover. Donyale Luna never identified herself as “black” so many people stripped her of that honor.)