Drawing on extensive archival research and interviews, this book delves into the rich world of Ghanaian fashion, demonstrating how, over time, local dress styles and materials have been fused with global trends to create innovative, high fashion garments that reflect a distinctly Ghanaian cosmopolitanism.
Ghana has a complex and diverse fashion culture which was in evidence before independence in 1957 and has continued to grow in reputation in the postcolonial period. In this book, Christopher Richards reflects on the contributions of the country’s female fashion designers, who have employed fashion to innovate existing, culturally relevant dress styles, challenge gendered forms of dress, and make bold statements regarding women’s sexuality. Treated as artworks, the book examines specific garments to illustrate the inherent complexity of their design and how fashion is often embedded with a blending of personal histories, cultural practices and global inspirations.
Reflecting in particular on the works of Laura Quartey, Letitia Obeng, Juliana Kweifio-Okai, Beatrice Arthur and Aisha Ayensu, this book makes an important and timely contribution to art history, fashion studies, anthropology, history, women’s studies and African Studies.
Author(s): Christopher L. Richards
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 250
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Copyright Page
1 Introduction: The Many Modes of (African) Fashion
“Fashion Matters” in Ghana
Defining Fashion
The Beginnings of Scholarship on African Fashion – Dress and Adornment
Scholarship on African Fashion
Fashion as Art
Art Inseparable From Fashion: Haute Couture
“… Like a Modern Canvas”: Fashion as Art – the Designs of Schiaparelli and Pei
Art to Wear: Fashion and the “Wearable Art” Movement
“New” Looks and Distressed Duds: the Artistry of the “New Look” and Punk Fashion
“Picking” From the Past: African Fashion and the Notion of Tradition
Cosmopolitanism: a Space and Its Inhabitants
The Location: Accra, Ghana
Notes
2 Accra’s Pre- and Independence-Era Fashion Cultures
World and European Fashions
International Fashions
Local Fashions
“Fashion With the African Personality Is in Full Bloom”: Accra’s Nationalist, Cosmopolitan Fashions
“… Something Which Is Essentially Ghanaian”: Cosmopolitan, Nationalist Fashions and the Kente Reformation
The Fashion Event: Fashion Night Out, Ghana, April 19, 2012
Notes
3 The Forerunners of Ghana’s Fashion Designers: Letitia Obeng and Laura Quartey
“Because It Was Mine, Not Anything Foreign”: Letitia Obeng’s Promotion of the Kaba and Ntama
Ghana’s Most Sought-After Dressmaker: Laura Quartey
Informal Fashion Archives: the Collections of Edith François and Kathleen Ayensu
Notes
4 “Paris-Trained, Osu-Domiciled”: Juliana “Chez Julie” Kweifio-Okai, Ghana’s First Fashion Designer
“From Ministry Clerk to Dressmaker”: the Career of Juliana Kweifio-Okai and Her Label, Chez Julie
“… A Parisienne Touch”: Chez Julie’s Early Designs
“Creations to Suit the African Personality”: Chez Julie’s Cosmopolitan, Nationalist Fashions
Designed in Lagos, Sewn in Ghana: Kweifio-Okai’s Nigerian-Inspired Fashions
“It’s Not Spoiled”: Kweifio-Okai’s Kente Kaba and Akwadzan
The Feminist Approach of Kweifio-Okai
Chez Julie – a Personal Epilogue
The Boutique: B’ExotiQ, Beatrice “Bee” Arthur
Notes
5 “I Don’t Do Nice; It Has to Be Interesting”: The Designs of Beatrice “Bee” Arthur
The Multicultural Origins of B’ExotiQ
Clothes That Make Me Happy: the Artistry of Bee Arthur
The Freedom to Express Yourself: Cosmopolitanism and Cultural Heritage in Arthur’s Fashions
“For Me It Was All About the Fusion”: the Matryoshka Dress
“I Like That Things Become Something Else”: the Recycling and Revising of Arthur’s Designs
A Sinuous Signature: Arthur as Artist
“A Lion Does Not Need to Roar to Keep the Crowd in Awe.”: Arthur’s Final Collections
Hands Off – Eyes Only
Dumsor
Eternally Funky: the Legacy of Beatrice “Bee” Arthur and B’ExotiQ
The Workshop: Christie Brown, Aisha Ayensu
Notes
6 “The Spirit of the African Woman”: Aisha Ayensu and Her Brand, Christie Brown
The Creation and Development of Christie Brown
“People Come to Us for Our Details”: the Artistry of Christie Brown
Asymmetry
Volume
“My Thing Is Detail, Detail, Detail”: Hidden Flourishes and Bold Embellishments
Sartorial Surprises
Print in Motion
Clothed in Cultural Heritage – the Material Significance of Ayensu’s Designs
Wax Print
Batakari Cloth
The Future of Christie Brown
Notes
7 The Future of Ghanaian, and African, Fashion
Notes
Index
