A new exhibition at Somerset House explores the stories of Black British fashion. The exhibition, titled The Missing Thread, curated by the Black Orientated Legacy Development Agency (BOLD).
The artworks spanning from the 1970s to the present day, the exhibition charts the shifting landscape of Black British culture and the unique contribution it has made to Britain’s design history and culture.
The exhibition is also a new discovery of the cultural and socio-economical happenings in the society. On one hand, Missing Thread looks at how the cultural, counter-cultural, political and socio-economic backdrop of the 20th and 21st centuries have shaped the identity of Black style and in turn mainstream fashion culture, while it spotlights and contextualizes the profound impact of Black creativity through music, photography, art and design.
Full of works by artists and designers including Chris Ofili, Eddie Chambers, Maud Sulter, Bianca Saunders, Ozwald Boateng, Faisal Abdu’Allah, Christine Checinska and Keith Piper, The Missing Thread redresses this gap in our collective cultural knowledge. Its curators – Harris Elliott, Andrew Ibi and Jason Jules – want to understand what has existed before yet remained curiously forgotten.
Black Creativity and Its Influence
It is acknowledged that black creativity has profoundly influenced British culture and continues to be referenced to great effect. The exhibition seeks to redress this, celebrating the unique visions and impact of an often unseen generation of trailblazing Black creatives who were denied access to the fashion industry or who, despite achieving great success, have had their contributions misrepresented or excluded from the story of British fashion.
The exhibition tells the story of Black creativity through four distinct themes – home, tailoring, performance, and nightlife – each referencing the spaces that inspired and allowed the culture of Black British fashion and design to develop on its terms. Rather than approaching fashion as an art form created in isolation, the Black contribution to British fashion culture is set within a broader socio-political context, placing garments alongside artworks, cultural artifacts, music, memorabilia, videos, and installations. The Missing Thread also spotlights the genius of one of Britain’s most influential Black fashion designers, the late Joe Casely-Hayford, presenting the designer’s archive in an exhibition format for the first time in the UK. Finally, a series of original commissions by contemporary Black designers, including Nicholas Daley, Bianca Saunders, and Saul Nash, celebrate the generational lineage of Black creative excellence in British fashion.
