On the evening of January 28 1962, a huge crowd gathered outside a nightclub in Harlem, jostling for entrance to a fashion show whose resonant slogan, “Black is Beautiful”, would change the course of American life. The show, Naturally ’62, was intended as a celebration of style inspired by African rather than western ideals of beauty. Models eschewed wigs or straightened hair for Afros. They wore large hoop earrings and chunky bracelets, and sashayed down a catwalk in vividly patterned dresses that mirrored fashions in Lagos, Accra and Nairobi...
April 5, 2019
