The Gospel of Fine Dressing
This collection draws inspiration from Alvin Ailey, a groundbreaking African American choreographer whose work celebrated Black culture and spirituality. Personal memories of my family dressing up for Sunday service also informed key details. Working with a limited color palette allowed me to focus on silhouette; studying the movement and shapes the dancers created with their body and translating them into seams, panels, and the overall shape of the garment.
Alvin Ailey was an African American dancer and choreographer of the mid to late 20th century. His work drew upon what he called “blood memories”, which were recollections of his uncles, aunts, and his own childhood growing up in rural Texas and witnessing the theatrics of the black church. These experiences inspired his masterpiece Revelations (1960), which he described as a night long saga of the black experience.
With the black church playing an influential role in both Ailey’s and my own upbringing, I also drew from personal memories of seeing family in their Sunday best. I would watch my mother and grandmother get dressed for Sunday service and complete their outfits with a hat and brooch, details reinterpreted in the collection.
