New York – New York (AP) – Fashion icons As the elegant Dan, Janelle Monáe and The deceased André Leon Talley They are known for their distinctive approaches to the sartorial style: bold color splashes, luxurious fabrics, playful construction, layers, but the wise and fashionable historians agree that a common thread weaves its tailored looks: dandyism.
The History -loaded style movement will be in charge and the center as part of the spring exhibition of the Coster Institute of the Metropolitan Art Museum, “Superfine: Sailoring Black Style”, starting with the largest fashion night, The Met Gala Monday.
Inspired by Monica Miller’s book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity”, The exhibition focuses On black style and specifically male clothes from the 18th century to the present, with dandiism as a unifying theme.
Once used to describe the aristocratic style and the activities quietly from figures such as Beau Brummell by Regency England, Dandyism has been recontextualized over the years embody liberation and resistance through lush self -expression.
This evolution of the term began with the trade of transatlantic slaves. Miller, guest curator of the MET exhibition, writes how, in the 18th century, young black servants dandedified in England were forced to use gold, brass or silver necklaces with locks and fine free, uniforms for slaves and servants, who pointed out the wealth of their owners.
“They wanted the enslaved person to stand out almost as if it were a luxury article,” said Jonathan Square, Assistant Design Professor at Parsons and one of the advisors at the MET exhibition.
Slaves arrived in the United States with few or no belonging. What they had left, treasured, be it accounts or small precious objects, Miller writes.
“This is so true for those who were deliberately dressed with silks and turbans, whose challenge was to inhabit clothes in their own way, as for those who were more humbly dressed, who used clothes as a process of memory and mode of distinction (and a symbolic escape and sometimes real of the scarce of the scarce) in their new environment,” Miller explains in his book.
Naked of their identities, the enslaved people often added their own style to their best aspect of Sundays for the church or on vacation.
After emancipation, black Americans had the opportunity to claim their autonomy and force new lives for themselves, racing the way For the Renaissance of Harlem.
The black Americans fled south by cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York in a folded period The great migration. From the 1920s to the 1930s, the New York Harlem neighborhood became an influential and fertile landscape for black cultural expression. From Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston to Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, their prominent minds remodeled the fabric of American culture and challenged prejudiced beliefs.
Harlem Renaissance gave fashion a soul, said Brandice Daniel, founder of Harlem’s Fashion Row, an agency that connects color designers with retail and brand opportunities.
“It was this place of birth of this visual identity that spoke with what we now call black excellence,” he said.
The Renaissance meant living and dressing with courage for black Americans, pushing social limits beyond and becoming visible. Adding their own turn in conventional appearance, women put skins and dresses with accounts while men experienced with custom fabrics, pristine fast hats, two -tone oxfords and undulating silhouettes.
“Many of us have a photo of our grandfather adorned with the suit, but it is also the position and type of position and the statement of the presence,” said Tara Donaldson, co -author of “Black in Fashion: 100 years of style, influence and culture.”
Web du Bois, a fundamental figure of the time Who often appeared with a three -piece suit, a coat and a cup hat, understood the power of self -esteem, said Valerie Steele, director of the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum. In the 1900 Paris exhibition, Du Bois set up a photographic exhibition focused on exhibiting the economic, social and cultural contributions of blacks to combat stereotypes.
“That type of self -esteem is a way of recovering a sense of self -esteem that had been denied by a society that aggressively said: ‘No, no, you can’t have that,” Steele said.
A style that emerged from the Renaissance of Harlem, directly linked to dandyism, was the zoot suit. The demand, defined by Drapeados de Caja high and large jackets with exaggerated shoulders and large flaps, was simply subversive when occupying space. Due to fabric rations during World War II, having a zoot suit, with its excessive use of fabric, was an act of protest, Square said.
“It is intended to be a provocation,” said Square. “But also, it is a form of protection, which covers a part of his body, which says: ‘You don’t have access to this.'”
The style was quickly adopted by American Mexico and Filipinos in Los Angeles. In 1943, the military and police officers attacked the black, Mexican and Filipinos men in what was described with the disturbances of Zoot demand. Zoot suit today in the gender fluid designs of Willy Chavarria.
Dandyism was not limited to men. After World War I, women began to break Fashion gender norms. With her tuxedo and cup hat, the singer and artist of Blues Gladys Bentley personified how women in Harlem’s rebirth blurred the gender lines and adopted more male dress styles.
Monáe singer and actor, Who sits in the host committee of this year’s Met gala, is not shy about highlighting on a red carpet In its custom and playful appearance. The distinctive style of Monáe and blooms with large hats, tailored capricious suits and arc ornate ties personify the elegant style.
As Monae and the rest of the list of starry guests reach their glamorous “Custom to you” look, Monday will be a night to remember all the dandies that were designed before.
“Blacks, black men are finally obtaining their flowers because they are true -style icons,” said designer Ev Bravado, co -founder of who decides the war. “It is surprising to see the ancestral work that is exhibited.”
