Seeing Parallel, part 1
We know of the Japanese designers Charivari supported by carrying their clothes in the stores, supporting them to the highest echelons of fashion, but there were more… designers hailing from China, Nigeria, Italy, France, Belgium and Britain, and of course designers from home, here in the U.S. The same goes for the diverse workforce found on the sales floors of their six stores around Manhattan; the Weiser’s and their store managers hired people from all over the world, quite unlike our current Government administration's approach to immigration.
Charivari was most known, to carry avant-garde designer clothing made by foreign designers, but after attending the Black Fashion Designers exhibit at FIT in Manhattan curated by Valerie Steele, we see their tastes also ran on the more colorful side too!
Willi Smith, Patrick Kelly, Joe Casely-Hayford & Stephen Burrows
Diversity in fashion
It was striking to see an entire exhibition of afrocentric designers, mostly African-American, like Stephen Burrows, Willi Smith, Patrick Kelly, Ozwald Boateng & Joe Casely-Hayford (who's line was carried at Charivari), just to name a few. And then there’s Charivari’s own Lola Faturoti. London born with Nigerian parentage, Faturoti was actually a sales person at Charivari 57 who went on to head her own label.
Although not included in the exhibition, Lola’s designs incorporated her afrocentric aesthetic of color and prints. While still a sales person at Charivari (and sewing clothes in her apartment), she found a true believer in the guise of her boss, Barbara Weiser who asked if she would like to start designing her own line. And with her first collection hanging on the racks alongside designs by Ann Demeulemeester and Martin Margiela, it seemed from one day-to-the-next every magazine and newspaper wanted to know all about her. Her first show followed in the autumn of that year and the rest is history… parallel to the many other designers supported throughout the company’s history.
Art isn’t Easy
Her journey began in May of 1993, and continued until 1996, when she took a break. She discovered investors willing to put down cash on a new designer were not easy to find; and learned, unless a designer has an investor or is financially solvent, it was unsustainable continually using ones own money to support a business—because “it goes very fast in fashion”, to use her words! Consequently, she went into doing bridal work.
As an example of such difficulty in funding would be back in 2015, when even mainstream designer *Burrows launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to produce a collection of reissued classic pieces. He set a goal of $300,000 and unfortunately only raised an “unsuccessful” $12,160.
Upon her return to creating her namesake collections (1999) and with an acclaimed show, one of her designs was acquired by the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of her dresses landed in a Barney’s window and she was recognized as one of the “best in America” by a former style editor of The New York Times Magazine.
But let’s get back to the Black Fashion Designers exhibit. This important exhibition demonstrates how active and important black designers have been in fashion over the 20th century. In particular, Stephen Burrows and Patrick Kelly, two innovative designers who incorporated bright colors and smart tailoring, while Willi Smith, one of the most successful African-American designers in the industry, carried the torch with a muted palette of easy to wear designs until he died in April 1987.
Importantly, we must mention Kelly’s advocacy for models of color and how he made a point to include them in his work up until the late 80s—and until the end of his life, News Years Day 1990; breaking into the European white world of high fashion while utilizing racial imagery such as the golliwog or the Aunt Jemima bandana in his designs. And to Smith, who taught fashion design at New York’s Parsons School of Design, and won the 1983 Coty award for best designer of women’s wear, the same year the Coty American Fashion Critics awarded Charivari Workshop, at 81st and Columbus Avenue, for innovative retailing in Japanese and English merchandise.
Today, Lola continues creating, evolving and produces Lolalovecargo—“A platform for women to share their stories, to empower and support each other and to connect with other women around the world through Lolalovecargo pants.”
For Faturoti, it isn’t just the financial supporters like the Arnell Group or Swarovski AG, but also people. Influential individuals like André Leon Talley (former American Editor-at-Large for Vogue magazine), and of course Barbara Weiser, who saw her talent and gave her the platform where her designs could be seen in the light of the public eye.
Black Fashion Designers (December 6, 2016 – May 16, 2017)
Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology - Seventh Avenue at 27 Street, New York City
D-Source Note: For more information, www.lolafaturoti.com
www.exhibitions.fitnyc.edu/black-fashion-designers/#grid-page
*“Today the business of fashion has changed dramatically. There is no fashion without finance. My business model has been pitched to a host of investors to no avail. Challenged by limited access to capital I was encouraged to create a Kickstarter Campaign to launch ‘Stephen Burrows Now!’—A legacy collection featuring the best of Burrows to the global fashion community. The funds raised will enable me to rent space for a design studio/showroom, to purchase fabric and produce a ready-to-wear line. Create e-commerce and mobile commerce sites. It is my passion to custom design red carpet originals for rising stars and icons in music, fashion and entertainment. My sensibility to fashion is ageless and timeless. It’s a style that is imbued with a youthful optimism and sophisticated confidence. Join my movement to bring ‘Stephen Burrows Now!’ to the marketplace so it may rise yet again to the forefront of fashion.” - Stephen Burrows
Although Burrows didn’t reach his goal, today he continues on and hopes to create free-standing retail stores, e-commerce and a feature-film project based on the Battle of Versailles ’73 (a fashion show held on November 28, 1973, in the Palace of Versailles to raise money for its restoration).