Black/Fashion: Color and Culture

In collaboration with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, fashion curation by theo tyson

fall ‘25

Process

“The grid” is a design guide to break the space symbolically and physically. Breaking the black as a monolith to redefining it as Black as a culture. 


Within my practice, I iterate best when making models to express my initial ideas. These models above represent past iterations of my previous designs before reaching the final design. 

Worked with a fashion curator from the Boston MFA, theo tyson, and designed a Black/Fashion: Color Culture exhibition space within the Linde Family gallery in the museum.  Throughout the semester, I explored the breadth and depth of black as a color and Blackness as a kaleidoscopic identity contextualized through fashion and visual arts, both historically and contemporarily. We were entrusted to ideate a design solution following her curatorial statement into 6 distinct sections: Good Mourning, Good Evening, Texture, Protest Dress, Kaleidoscope, and Afrofuturism. My project statement is inspired by the term "Sunday's Best," which is a term used by Black Americans during times of oppression and marginalization as an expression of freedom during Church to dress themselves in their best clothes. André Leon Talley’s capes, synonymous with his identity, are present and pivotal to theo’s curatorial vision for the exhibition. Talley’s religious upbringing is deeply rooted within the Black church, particularly through his grandmother, who instilled in him values of dignity, grace, and meticulous dressing for Sunday service, implementing the church as his first significant experience with fashion, ritual, and community.  

Final Models