Savile Row Training Academy: National Tailoring and Design Awards Finalist, 2014
Through this project I explored the Harlem Renaissance and the 1940's fashion trend of the zoot suit.
African- Americans used the zoot suit to assert themselves defiantly in society. By appropriating the traditional suit worn by the pre-dominating white American male class. Cultural differences were marked and the zoot suit became a cultural power symbol. They were distinguishable by their oversized silhouette and flamboyant colours.
Through my designs I have explored the above cultural and artistic principles through the prism of contemporary Hip-Hop street style culture of the late 1990's- present day.
My designs are visual metaphors of the values of the 'zoot-suiters' whose audacity enabled them to assert themselves socially as they encountered racial stereotypes through the art of tailoring.
Through this project I explored the Harlem Renaissance and the 1940's fashion trend of the zoot suit.
African- Americans used the zoot suit to assert themselves defiantly in society. By appropriating the traditional suit worn by the pre-dominating white American male class. Cultural differences were marked and the zoot suit became a cultural power symbol. They were distinguishable by their oversized silhouette and flamboyant colours.
Through my designs I have explored the above cultural and artistic principles through the prism of contemporary Hip-Hop street style culture of the late 1990's- present day.
My designs are visual metaphors of the values of the 'zoot-suiters' whose audacity enabled them to assert themselves socially as they encountered racial stereotypes through the art of tailoring.