Black Excellence: Fashion that Prevails

Black Excellence: Fashion that Prevails showcases the work of Black style tastemakers, influencers, and designers. The exhibition is organized thematically around the influences of African heritage, elegance, entertainment, and education. Curator Sian Brown MA ‘20 interviewed Black fashion designers in North America about their experiences in the industry, including their struggles, triumphs, and joys. Her research findings are conveyed through Black Excellence, which explores fashion design as a site where Black culture, dress, and identity are negotiated and produced.

Letter from the Curator: Black Excellence brings together 16 inspiring Black designers in an exhibition of elegance, strength, and perseverance. Over the past year and a half, I have had the opportunity to conduct research with Black designers in North America. We spent many hours in conversation, formal interviews and otherwise, and they invited me into their studios, showrooms, and boutiques. Black Excellence is one outcome of this research, and I am indebted to these designers who graciously believed and trusted my vision for the exhibition. Through this exhibition, I hope to celebrate the talents of these designers, each with their own unique story, career, experiences, talents, and inspirations. Though the fashions are diverse, all designers share in their passion to convey Black excellence. As a curator, I am honored to relay visually and materially the creative interventions these designers are making in the world and their power to prevail. – Sian Brown MA ‘20

The exhibition is organized thematically around the influences of African heritage, elegance, entertainment, and education.

Image courtesy of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA