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    • NO EXIT, NO WAY OUT: close the loop on fashion
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African diaspora

EDGE Afropolitan, EDGE Radar

The Tomorrow People, African Designers | EDGE Talks to Pretoria Designer, Sheila-Madge Bakker

The tomorrow people is what we can now call ourselves, because of the vision we hold as previously overlooked people/designers. African design brings forth a fresh vision and outlook or newness to international fashion platforms, implemented and seen in some of the top brands of the world. – Sheila-Madge Bakker [SMB] I am very inspired […]

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EDGE Afropolitan, EDGE Radar

Elevating African Fashion | EDGE Talks to Koko Nanga

Koko Nanga consumer is an Afropolitan at heart. Throughout my journey I have met/spoken to a variety of people from different countries, cultures, races. With this I have realized that you don’t have to be black to be Afropolitan. You simply have to have an affinity for Afro culture. – Maryanne E. Mokoko

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EDITOR’S Letter | Hidden In Plain Sight

Stories, design details, and quality are stripped away to meet a system built on speed and greed. EDGE presents designers, in plain sight, who counter this.

Kyle Denman, designer, “mul·ti·po·lar—ex·ist·ence”
The making of the "Seven Unforgettable" project by Maryanne E. Mokoko. Storytelling through the lens of fashion, filmed in Kenya, West Africa.

Rescued Rubbish is ReIMAGINED | Sayoko Kojima

“Culturally reusing and taking care of what you have and keeping it longer was much more common when I was growing up in Japan.” – Sayoko Kojima

Sayoko Kojima, designer | Photographer @manonceartist

Sustainable Fashion: Be Informed | EDGE Suggested Resources

  • A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future
  • CFDA Guide to Sustainable Strategies
  • CFDA Materials Index
  • Circular Fashion
  • Circular Fashion System – EDGE explains
  • Climate Action Playbook
  • Eco-fiber or Eco Fraud?
  • ECONYL®
  • Ecouterre
  • European Commission Circular Economy Action Plan
  • European Parliament Report
  • Fashion Futures 2030
  • Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Change
  • Fashion Industry Environmental, Waste, and Recycle Statistics
  • Fashion on Climate
  • Green America
  • Green Fashion Week
  • Green Strategy
  • Hemp Textiles
  • Hemp Traders Flyer
  • Looptworks
  • Net Zero Challenge: The Supply Chain Opportunity
  • Quantis Report | Measuring Fashion
  • Redress
  • Relooping Fashion Initiative
  • Sustainable Apparel Coalition
  • sustainable EDGE
  • Sustainable Textiles, the Textile Community Talks
  • The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
  • The Pulse of the Fashion Industry Report
  • thredUP
  • Triple Pundit
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce Textile Waste Is the Next New Product
  • United Nations Helps Fashion Industry Shift to Low Carbon
  • United Nations Partnership On Sustainable Fashion
  • WRAP
  • Zero Waste Design

A Fashion Story Honors Women in Combat | Isabella Diorio

“It’s not just about the garment itself but about the story behind it.”

– Isabella Diorio | New Orleans, Louisiana

The Ashley Coat, The Cathay Dress, The Brewster Bolero | photo: Emily Warfield, courtesy of Isabella Diorio

Early Adopters: Ukraine’s BE SUSTAINABLE! Fashion Summit

Ukrainian Fashion Week has demonstrated leadership in showcasing fashion not tied to a season by responding to a circular fashion system.

“Oyma” by Polina Veller, designer | Ukrainian Fashion Week No Season 2021, photo: courtesy of Ukrainian Fashion Week

Circle By Design | A Talk with Ophir El-Boher

courtesy of Ophir El-Boher, photography Mario Gallucci, Copy of PNCA-MFA-Thesis-2019-DSC_7598
a circular design system for a sustainable future

“My strategy is to design systems where individuals can produce fashion items out of waste, according to an existing design, in a way that is circular. . .my theory is that if some percentage of your closet is made by you through such a system, then you have changed your consumption behavior for the long term, and therefore will be a much better fashion consumer and user.”

– Ophir El-Boher | Portland, Oregon

Debussy, Renoir, and Hokusai: REIMAGINED Dead Stock at the Hand of Yun Qu

"I rely heavily on the sense of hearing to provide me inspiration instead of sense of sight." - Yun Qu

Must See Fashion Exhibits | Africa Fashion – Brooklyn Museum, Portland Art Museum

Africa Fashion, Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum

Elevating African Fashion | A Talk with Maryanne E. Mokoko

“Throughout my journey I have met/spoken to a variety of people from different countries, cultures, races.  With this I have realized that you don’t have to be Black to be Afropolitan.  You simply have to have an affinity for Afro culture.”

– Maryanne E. Mokoko | USA/Cameroon

“I am so grateful for this opportunity! Thank you for the bold questions @edgexpo” 🙏🏾

– Maryanne E. Mokoko | USA/Cameroon

Fashion and Society, A Constant State of Interpretation| 배혜진 Hyee Jin Bae

배혜진 HYEE JIN BAE, Artist.
배혜진 HYEE JIN BAE exhibit at CICA Museum, Seoul, Korea

“Typically, the visual form or design is based on the functionality, but the function of the clothing that I make differs from looking posh or preventing the cold. My clothes are designed for people to focus on the act of wearing the clothing.”

– 배혜진 Hyee Jin Bae | Seoul, Korea

Preserving the Art of Shibori | Jun Nakamura

“I think the process of developing design by working on a form, sketching, and collaging is similar to that of creating art.  It all challenges our creativity, striking a balance as a whole piece.”

– Jun Nakamura | London

Skirt : JUNNA (@junnakamura_) Model : Raihanna Thompson (@_raihanna) Makeup : Azzurra Bonaldo (@azzurra_bonaldo @maccosmetics) Direction : Riccardo Rubino (@rick_inky_style) Designer : Jun Nakamura (@junnakamura_)
Shibori, a modern look by Jun Nakamura

The Power of Cloth and Why We Should Care | Abiola Onabule

Abiola Onabule Photo 2 - Photos by Jessica Eliza Ross
Abiola Onabule, designer | Photo: Jessica Eliza Ross

“My interest in textiles such as Adire and Aso Oke comes from a fascination in how a textile can become the through-line of people’s lives, their personal histories, economic change and growth, political and cultural shifts.” 

– Abiola Onabule | London

Aryanization and the Destruction of Berlin’s Fashion Industry

Source Pinterest, Gary Moon | Berlin 1928, at a polo tournament, scan from: Berlin die 20er Jahre, Christian Brandstätter Verlag
Today a memorial in Hausvogteiplatz, the center of Berlin’s fashion district, marks this history.

“Today, Berlin only teaches fashion as far back to the 1950s; they don’t go further back.  Talent is lost from the 1920s and ’30s, and when you don’t pick up on that, you lose a new generation of designers.”

– Uwe Westphal, as told to Atlanta Jewish Times

“A Study of Eight, The Untold American Story”

"A Study of Eight, The Untold American Story", (hardbound archive, NFS) Library of Congress General Collections

NPR Here & Now showcases ‘A Study of Eight’

W.E.B. Du Bois' Exposition des Nègres d’Amérique Transformed the World's View of Black in America

“African Americans have contributed historically to fashion in ways that we just don’t know about. ‘A Study of Eight’ highlights those hidden figures and events.”

-RP Hill

The Golliwog: The Patrick Kelly Story

“Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love” at the de Young museum in San Francisco. Spring/Summer 1986, cotton and nylon printed by Bianchini-Férier (French, est.ca. 1880); Shoes by Maud Frizon (French, est. 1969) leather; Mask: wood, paper, hemp. Gift of Bjorn Guil Amelan and Bill T. Jones in honor of Monica Brown to the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo © Rhonda P. Hill
"That simple white dress, stamped with this image, became a garment that was powerful in historical relevance, designed by a Black man, as well as a sophisticated, cool message print." - André Leon Talley

EDGE Afropolitan | African Diaspora Fashion Makers

Josefa Da Silva, AFWLA, EDGExpo.com, photo: Cindy Ceballos
Josefa Da Silva, designer, AFWLA, photo: Cindy Ceballos

Fashion Study | EDGE Suggested Resources

  • A Study of Eight, The Untold American Story
  • Aryanization and the Destruction of Berlin’s Fashion Industry
  • Black Past
  • Fashion History
  • Fashion History Timeline
  • Fashion's First Black Designers
  • Fashion's First Black Supermodels
  • History Is Rarely Black or White
  • Ikats from Central Asia
  • Meet Mildred Blount, Costume Hat Designer
  • Patrick Kelly: A Retrospective
  • The Fashion and Race Database
  • Traditional Dress from East Asia
  • Willi Smith: The Creative Intersection of an American Genius

Museum Destiny: The Case for Contemporary Fashion

Designed by Hera Zhou | Exhibited at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; GraySpace Gallery, Santa Barbara
Inspired by Hokusai's "The Great Wave", The 'White Feather Dress' by Hera Zhou | Exhibited at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; GraySpace Gallery, Santa Barbara

“Let’s keep fighting the fight for fashion as art.”

– Hera Zhou | Shanghai

“Blurred Boundaries: Fashion as an Art”, curated by Rhonda P. Hill

Blurred Boundaries Fashion as an Art installation, curated by [l] Rhonda P. Hill, ©Rhonda P. Hill, 2018
"Blurred Boundaries: Fashion as an Art" installation | Santa Barbara

Neo.Fashion.: The Vanguard of Fashion Emerges from Germany

"Look at EDGE" Showcases Neo.Fashion. | A Curated Showcase of Emerging Talent.

“Although fashion has it’s utilitarian purpose, we can view it more than just a consumptive object.  A new generation of designers offer an intelligent dialogue on fashion’s contribution to art, culture, and practices of sustaining earth’s resources.”

-RP Hill

E D G E Fashion Intelligence gives voice to the under-represented creative force that operate outside the system, embraces the transformative power of fashion, and pushes concept over sale-ability.

E D G E Fashion Intelligence, ©EDGExpo.com. All Rights Reserved

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