Love Has Become Bad Manners
Hasna and Ryan kept giving themselves away, a shoulder leaning in, a collar fixed with a care no collar has ever needed, their bodies doing what bodies do before pride gets involved. Nobody in the room minded that the two of them wanted each other; the discomfort was that the wanting kept showing on their […]
If This. Then That: World Cup Edition — Dressing the Team — Loewe → Ibrahim Fernandez
If you understand why Loewe’s suit for Spain matters, you’ll recognize what Ibrahim Fernandez did for Côte d’Ivoire. IF YOU LIKE LOEWE Loewe is the LVMH-owned Spanish house, and it signed a four-year deal to dress Spain’s national teams off the pitch. The wardrobe, designed under creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, runs to […]
Kente and the Politics of Being Read
On June 8, 2020, a group of Democratic lawmakers knelt on the floor of the United States Capitol for eight minutes and forty-six seconds, the duration then believed to mark how long a Minneapolis officer had knelt on George Floyd’s neck, later revised at trial to nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds. Several of them wore […]
Nigerian Women Are Dressing Against the Code
Two decades ago, Y2K marked one of the most expressive moments in Nigerian fashion, shaped by the rise of internet culture and the influence of Nollywood. Visibility, then, felt intentional and confident rather than excessive. A version of that sensibility has returned, carried by a generation that dresses for how it wants to feel rather […]
If This. Then That: Ceramics — Lucie Rie → Andile Dyalvane
If This. Then That: Ceramics — Lucie Rie → Andile Dyalvane Two potters, fifty years and two continents apart, both treating the surface of the vessel as something to be marked rather than smoothed. IF YOU LIKE LUCIE RIE Vienna-born, London-based. Rie threw alone from a small mews studio for nearly sixty years, raking sgraffito […]
Karibu Nairobi: Stamped and Approved
Sinatra Chumo on reclaiming the postage stamp as a site of cultural critique
The Hotels That Actually Know Where They Are
The Hotels That Actually Know Where They Are Cultural programming has become one of hospitality’s most overused promises. Here’s how to tell the difference between a hotel that has genuinely embedded itself in a place — and one that has simply dressed the lobby. Credit: HBD Principe – Oca Sundy Restaurant, Sundy Praia, Príncipe Island […]
Guinea: A Textile Civilization in Four Systems
Guinea: A Textile Civilization in Four Systems By Mariama Camara & Oury Sene King of Kindia, c.1910, with two wives in Basse-Guinée textiles (tie-dye, weaving, embroidery). Courtesy of Duncan Clarke, antique postcard and African textile dealer. Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is rarely understood through its material systems. It is more often described through […]
If This. Then That: Shoes — Lemaire → Kkerelé
If you understand why the Lemaire slipper sells out every season, you already understand what Tina Akerele is doing in Lagos. IF YOU LIKE LEMAIRE The Piped Crepe Slipper is the most iconic shoe in the Lemaire wardrobe. Two pieces of grained cow leather sewn together at the front and sealed with leather piping. Elongated […]
Out of Zimbabwe, a Streetwear Brand With Deeper Intentions
Lesley Manokore makes streetwear. Hoodies, jerseys, graphic-driven capsule drops,