In the latest episode of The Decorating Dissidence Podcast, Ghanaian-British curator, writer, and educator Yaa Addae of Decolonize the Art World interviews Akua Kwakwa, co-host of the podcast Off the Rack produced by brainwash media. Their conversation centres around luxury, particularly how contemporary African labels are re-defining what luxury means, and fashion as a medium for creating new worlds. Yaa and Akua discuss the importance of fashion and clothes, comparing their experiences of living in the U.S/UK to Ghana, first memories of dressing themselves, brands you should pay attention to, and how diversity in fashion can give more agency, access and glamour to those who fashion has previously excluded.
"The way fashion will help us to create new worlds is by helping us to create communities...I think people will start looking more at brands that they feel like cater to their communities and within their communities." - Akua Kwakwa
Bio:
Akua Kwakwa is a creative in the fashion industry, working and living in New York City.
She grew up between Ghana, South Africa, Jamaica and the USA and now calls Accra home. Her favourite colour is purple (though she is unsure what that really means) and if she could, she would get paid to read books for a living.
She has always been enamoured of fashion and did her Bachelor's degree in Fashion Management, with a concentration in Communications. She co-hosts a podcast with a friend of hers about fashion, and pop culture, and will talk about anything fashion-related given the opportunity.
Yaa Addae is a Ghanaian-British curator, writer, and teaching artist. The emancipatory potential of play is central to their practice, as is dreamwork. Currently based between London and Accra, Yaa is a culture staff writer at AMAKA and manages a digital studio, A-kra, which offers an online art history platform (Decolonize The Art World) and virtual residency program (The Imaginarium). They have spoken at Southbank Centre,Nubuke Foundation, The Barbican and lead workshops with Autograph ABP, The Church of Black Feminist Thought, The Library of Africa and The African Diaspora and Rumpus Room.
What to learn more?
Listen to or watch the Off the Rack episode 'What is "African Luxury" Fashion'?
Follow Brainwash Media Website
Bibliography
Using are.na (Open Source so people can continue to add on bc we still have a lot of questions+research ongoing): click here
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The full transcript for the episode can be accessed here.
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For more information about the project, visit decoratingdissidence.com