October 21, 2005
This is stunting 101 for boot lovers. Designers Jhung Yuro and Ceasar Lunix have hooked up to create a customizable luxury hiker boot for men. With only 350 pairs of each sku available at retail, these will be the must have shoes of the season. Talk about getting chill for winter. ($300 - $350; jhungyuro.com)
October 12, 2005
Fashion-forward men are finally going to get some respect, with a new exhibit at The Newark Museum in New Jersey.
The exhibition, titled "Power Dressing: Men's Fashion and Prestige in Africa," opens on October 19 and presents a survey of African men's dress, bringing together fifty examples, spanning the continent from Morocco to South Africa and representing over a century of fashion.
"Power Dressing," which features pieces from the Museum's own collection as well as from private and public collections, is set to reveal how a man's clothing can define, sustain or reinforce ideas about power and status in Africa.
“Dress has always been one of the most important markers of power and status in Africa and remains so today,” commented the Museum's curator of Africa, the Americas and the Pacific, Christa Clarke, Ph.D. “Men in Africa generally occupy more visible spaces of power than do women, and dress is central to their self presentation in these public contexts. Men’s dress often functions as a kind of a visual language, an aesthetic code expressing ideas about status. As such, a man’s clothing is an important medium through which power may be defined, sustained, or reinforced.”
The exhibit features four intersecting themes: Style and Status, Fit for a King, Divine Dress and Innovation and Identity, with pieces worn by Nigerian royals in the latter part of the 19th century and contemporary tunics worn by Mailian migrants known as "Ghana boys," among others. Some of the works included are made of items like porcupine quills, elephant tails, cowries, glass beads, leather, seed pods, gold leaf, copper, leopard fur and feathers.
As an accompaniment to the exhibition, the Museum will host a selection of programs, including a lecture series on the influence of African attire on Western fashion (Oct. 27 and Dec. 1), a symposium on African dress (Nov. 6), an Afropop dance party (Nov. 4), a spoken word poetry slam (Jan. 20), and a special Family Day featuring African dance performances and a hands-on workshop (Nov. 12).
For more information on these events, and for the museum's hours, check out www.newarkmuseum.org/
