Black culture in fashion? Is this inclusive?

Photo by  Eriscolors from Pixabay

By Jade Lennon

With the fashion industry advancing, is black culture being accepted in the fashion and beauty industry today? Black culture has influenced the fashion industry for a long time, driving many trends from streetwear to haute couture.  

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to black culture in the last decade.

By the 1990s, hip-hop culture ran rampant globally, with everyone hopping on the wave of streetwear that would set to dominate the fashion trends for decades. Brands like Cross Colours, Sean John and FUBU helped to redefine a new era, as well as empowering fellow black entrepreneurs and innovators.

While this was happening, hip-hop artists popularised the Adidas and Nike sneakers, wide-legged pants, and du-rags. This created a distinct and cultural blueprint that many high fashion designers incorporated into their clothing lines.

What was happening in the United States?

In the United States of America, the Harlem Renaissance was one of the most significant cultural explosions in American history, showcasing the black excellence of thought through different media: fashion, music, dance, literature and more.

The Harlem Renaissance “instilled in African Americans across the country a new spirit of self-determination and pride, a new social consciousness and a new commitment to political activism,” according to Our American Story.

The Civil Rights movement was also very significant, as it allowed African Americans to fight for “their rights and dignity”. They did this by making a statement with their clothes.

Following on from the BLM movement, fashion brands launched different initiatives to increase representation.  Many brands launched support campaigns like Nike who launched a campaign “For Once, Don’t Do it’.

What’s happening now?

Contemporary fashion still incorporates black culture, but at what cost? Honey Bolatiwa, a 31-year-old Mental Health Admin, said that black culture is being embraced in the fashion industry but sometimes appropriated.

What is cultural appropriation? This is “taking one aspect of culture that is not their own without consent, permission or any cultural context or relationship to that item”, according to UBC.

An example of this is from a viral clip of Kim Kardashian on Call Her Daddy. On this podcast, she describes the word quick weave without acknowledging or using the word weave. This shows the clear divide.

Bolatiwa feels the social media age has played a role in helping children and young adults to embrace their natural hair, as well as helping them learn to maintain it.

“The industry is afraid it might not be palatable”, Bolitawa stated. Often in the fashion industry, it’s accepted when it’s on other people, but not when black people themselves express their culture.

Photo of Destiny Peace Onuora-Iheanyichukwu in her runway outfit for the London Metropolitan fashion show. Credit: Leo Ward.

Although Destiny Peace Onuora-Iheanyichukwu, an Afrobeats artist in her early 40s, believes black culture is being accepted specifically in the UK, she raises concerns about natural hair in high-fashion settings.

Her sister, who has modelled for many brands and has attended London Fashion Week complained to Destiny Peace about how, on many occasions, her hair wasn’t considered because the hairdressers didn’t know how to style it.

Black models have also historically not been included in runway shows. During the early 2020s, there was a slight increase in spring 2022, when according to the Fashion Spot, 48.6% of all models were models of colour.

To combat this exclusivity, brands need to invest in hairstylists who are educated in this type of hair or encourage the hairstylists to learn this.

What will the fashion industry look like in the future? – Will it be inclusive?

With Gen Z, Bolitawa is confident in the them as they are vocal about what is happening in the world. She hopes to see more black people in these spaces.

Destiny Peace thinks that “everybody will come together” and that the industry will be more informed, educated and inclusive.

What do you think?