Cosmopolitanism and Women Fashion in Ghana History Artistry and Nationalist Inspirations 1st Edition by Christopher Richards 9781000478556 1000478556

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ISBN 10: 1000478556
ISBN 13: 9781000478556 
Author: Christopher L. Richards

Drawing on extensive archival research and interviews, this book delves into the rich world of Ghanaian fashion, demonstrating how, over time, local dress styles and materials have been fused with global trends to create innovative, high fashion garments that reflect a distinctly Ghanaian cosmopolitanism. Ghana has a complex and diverse fashion culture which was in evidence before independence in 1957 and has continued to grow in reputation in the postcolonial period. In this book, Christopher Richards reflects on the contributions of the country’s female fashion designers, who have employed fashion to innovate existing, culturally relevant dress styles, challenge gendered forms of dress, and make bold statements regarding women’s sexuality. Treated as artworks, the book examines specific garments to illustrate the inherent complexity of their design and how fashion is often embedded with a blending of personal histories, cultural practices and global inspirations. Reflecting in particular on the works of Laura Quartey, Letitia Obeng, Juliana Kweifio-Okai, Beatrice Arthur and Aisha Ayensu, this book makes an important and timely contribution to art history, fashion studies, anthropology, history, women’s studies and African Studies. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Cosmopolitanism and Women Fashion in Ghana History Artistry and Nationalist Inspirations 1st Table of contents:

1. Introduction: The many modes of (African) fashion

• “Fashion matters” in Ghana
• Defining fashion
• The beginnings of scholarship on African fashion – dress and adornment
• Scholarship on African fashion
• Fashion as art
• Art inseparable from fashion: haute couture
• “… Like a Modern Canvas”: fashion as art – the designs of Schiaparelli and Pei
• Art to wear: fashion and the “wearable art” movement
• “New” looks and distressed duds: the artistry of the “New Look” and punk fashion
• “Picking” from the past: African fashion and the notion of tradition
• Cosmopolitanism: a space and its inhabitants
• The location: Accra, Ghana
• Notes

2. Accra’s pre- and Independence-era fashion cultures

• World and European fashions
• International fashions
• Local fashions
• “Fashion with the African Personality is in Full Bloom”: Accra’s nationalist, cosmopolitan fashions
• “… Something which is Essentially Ghanaian”: cosmopolitan, nationalist fashions and the kente reformation
• The fashion event: Fashion Night Out, Ghana, April 19, 2012
• Notes

3. The forerunners of Ghana’s fashion designers: Letitia Obeng and Laura Quartey

• “Because it was Mine, Not Anything Foreign”: Letitia Obeng’s promotion of the kaba and ntama
• Ghana’s most sought-after dressmaker: Laura Quartey
• Informal fashion archives: the collections of Edith François and Kathleen Ayensu
• Notes

4. “Paris-Trained, Osu-Domiciled”: Juliana “Chez Julie” Kweifio-Okai, Ghana’s first fashion designer

• “From Ministry Clerk to Dressmaker”: the career of Juliana Kweifio-Okai and her label, Chez Julie
• “… A Parisienne Touch”: Chez Julie’s early designs
• “Creations to suit the African Personality”: Chez Julie’s cosmopolitan, nationalist fashions
• Designed in Lagos, sewn in Ghana: Kweifio-Okai’s Nigerian-inspired fashions
• “It’s Not Spoiled”: Kweifio-Okai’s kente kaba and Akwadzan
• The feminist approach of Kweifio-Okai
• Chez Julie – a personal epilogue
• The boutique: B’ExotiQ, Beatrice “Bee” Arthur
• Notes

5. “I don’t do nice; it has to be interesting”: The designs of Beatrice “Bee” Arthur

• The multicultural origins of B’ExotiQ
• Clothes that make me happy: the artistry of Bee Arthur
• The freedom to express yourself: cosmopolitanism and cultural heritage in Arthur’s fashions
• “For me it was all about the fusion”: the matryoshka dress
• “I like that things become something else”: the recycling and revising of Arthur’s designs
• A sinuous signature: Arthur as artist
• “A lion does not need to roar to keep the crowd in awe.”: Arthur’s final collections
• Hands Off – Eyes Only
• Dumsor
• Eternally funky: the legacy of Beatrice “Bee” Arthur and B’ExotiQ
• The workshop: Christie Brown, Aisha Ayensu
• Notes

6. “The Spirit of the African Woman”: Aisha Ayensu and her brand, Christie Brown

• The creation and development of Christie Brown
• “People come to us for our details”: the artistry of Christie Brown
• Asymmetry
• Volume
• “My thing is detail, detail, detail”: hidden flourishes and bold embellishments
• Sartorial surprises
• Print in motion
• Clothed in cultural heritage – the material significance of Ayensu’s designs
• Wax print
• Batakari cloth
• The future of Christie Brown
• Notes

7. The future of Ghanaian, and African, fashion

• Notes

Index

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Christopher Richards,Cosmopolitanism,Women Fashion