Black History Month 2021 | Harlem Renaissance Fashion

The Harlem Renaissance was booming with creativity. For the first time African Americans were afforded better opportunities, and an education to obtain degrees in the arts. But photography and paintings weren’t the only forms of African American art to emerge from the 1920s and 30s. Amid captured images and vibrant canvases a new medium had risen, black fashion.

This great awakening gave the black community a chance to establish an identity and express themselves through clothing.

Among the influential style icons to bring rise to black fashion was jazz artist, Cab Calloway. Calloway’s signature zoot suit took center stage as one of the era’s fashion trends to don. Boldly tailored with super-sized shoulder pads, sprawling lapels and tapered pants, this flashy, oversized suit was impossible to ignore. The zoot suit became synonymous with menswear in the jazz scene and inspired styles worn by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie.

American-born French entertainer, and African-American activist, Josephine Baker had a profound impact on women’s fashion during the Harlem Renaissance. As the first black woman to star in a major motion picture (Zouzou) Baker’s rise to stardom put her on the cover of international magazines. The entertainer’s style on and off stage was edgy and elaborate. More was more. Baker was a mover and shaker, playfully pushing the boundaries by mixing layers of pearls, tassels and oversized cocktail rings. Baker’s glamorous sense of style became a symbol of beauty and vitality for women in the black community.

Styles from the golden age of African American culture continue to leave their mark in the world of fashion. Evidence of their vibrant legacy are still found in runway collections of top designers today. As seen in the 2020 collections of Hermes and Badgley Mischka, at New York Fashion Week, the revival of oversized suit jackets and iconic string pearl necklaces have hit modern-day trends once again.

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