No less than four fashion designers with Caribbean roots have been chosen for a celebration of their creativity and entrepreneurship during the Black Dress exhibition now on at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York.
Running through until 26 April, this free exhibition features ten contemporary fashion designers (all New York-based), exploring each designer’s background, how it influences their work and celebrating their ground-breaking, visionary designs along with their singular dedication to their craft.
Black Dress opens at a time when black designers, despite their growing influence and success, remain largely underrepresented in the fashion world.
These four designers include two with Jamaican heritage – Samantha Black, a former Pratt graduate, Project Runway contestant and Sammy B label maven, brings fierce feminine edge while Michael Jerome Francis shows his beautifully crafted environmentally-aware ‘sustainable couture’; and two with Trinidad and Tobago roots – Stephen Burrows, fearless fashion innovator with over 50 years in the industry and Donna Dove, visual artist and designer with her signature ‘wearable art’.
Photo: Facebook.com/samantha-black-sammy-b
Photos: Michael Jerome Francis – Google+
Photos: stephenburrows.com
Facebook.com/donna-dove-new-york
Conceived by Adrienne Jones and co-curated with art dealer/exhibition developer Paula Coleman along with with fashion consultant Walter Greene, Black Dress highlights the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that is required for success in the fashion world, presenting each designer’s work through an innovative installation concept showcasing each designer’s work as if seen through a store window, a la Madison Avenue.
Black designers are emerging on the scene with greater visibility than ever,” said Jones. “Black Dress will highlight the correlation between entrepreneurship, creativity, and locality. These factors work together to create opportunities for designers and their communities to become new destinations where fashion excellence and achievement are measured.
Pratt Manhattan Gallery – 2nd Floor, 144 West 14thStreet, NYC
Read about Black Dress at style.com
Caribbean Bazaar 