The relationship between fashion and art has been said to be symbiotic. There is always going to be a meeting point where art and fashion intercept. The fashion industry recognises and understands visual artists’ influence on fashion.
There has been a long history of fashion brands working with visual artists from the continent, and the most recent ones in the last three years include Amoako Baofo with Dior (2021), Athi-Patra Ruga with Christian Dior (2019), Tony Gum with Chloe (2020), and Lunga Ntila for Victoria Beckham (2021), amongst others.
By collaborating with artists, fashion acquires cultural importance, while artists have an opportunity to reach a larger audience outside of the closed circuit of galleries, collectors, and museums.
Meet some of the artists that collaborated with popular fashion houses and brands in 2022:
Cinthia Sifa Mulanga x Gucci
Image courtesy of Gucci
Congolese mixed-media artist Cinthia Mulanga (1997) is known for her vivid colours, domestic settings and her female subjects. She collaborated with Gucci to commemorate the evolution of their “Diana” bag. She was invited to reimagine a variety of Alessandro Michele’s designs alongside other artists from across the world. It was a collaborative digital project that focused on beauty norms and their psychological and physical impact on African women while encouraging creativity and self-expression as invited artists were expected to create their own interpretations of a new range of Gucci bags.
Samson Bakare x Gucci
Image courtesy of Gucci
Samson Bakare (b.1993) is a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist. His work centres around black identity and values, both in contemporary and historical contexts. His work is largely inspired by fashion, and he was one of nine artists chosen to re-imagine and re-interpret the Gucci Ingrid 1947 bamboo bag in collaboration with Alessandro Michelle, Gucci’s global creative director.
Zandile Tshabalala x Bottega Veneta
Image courtesy of Wanted Online
South African painter Zandile Tshabalala (1999) is known for her arresting figurative works that write new narratives around the roles that Black women play in art history. Her work places women in the foreground of the frame, and her subjects are defined by their clothes, make-up and posture in a way that defines the ease and strength she envisions for Black women. Her collaboration with Bottega Veneta was conceived as an artist’s interpretation of the brand’s Wardrobe 03 Collection, which was Daniel Lee’s last as creative director. Her work focused on the dopamine green, which he then turned into a cult colour that is loved by influencers despite the brand’s withdrawal from all social media platforms.
Ludovic Nkoth x Kith
Ludovic Nkoth (b. 1994) is an artist from Cameroon. His portraits of Black subjects reflect the emotional terrain of diasporic life and history as he folds ruminations on family history, tradition, and the legacy of colonialism on canvas. He was one of the three rising black artists that were selected by KITH – a multifunctional lifestyle brand for men, women, and kids – to collaborate on a capsule collection for Black History Month. The collection included T-shirts and long sleeves.
