In our third podcast episode, we delve into African fashion and its postcolonial narratives, examining how digital access is both preserving and disseminating these stories. How is the digital age amplifying the voices of African fashion practitioners and challenging longstanding perceptions?
Erica de Greef is an independent fashion curator, decolonial fashion activist, writer, maker, and academic. She is co-founder of the African Fashion Research Institute, a curator at Large in Fashion at Zeitz Museum, and a steering committee member of Research Collective for Decolonising Fashion. She has lectured extensively in tertiary fashion education, contributing to the local fashion industry in many ways. She holds a Ph.D. in African Studies from the University of Cape Town.
"The mountain exists around the idea that African fashion is one thing. And that idea has continued from the early 20th century and perpetuates a kind of stereotype that collapses all 54 countries into one aesthetic identity."
- Erica de Greef
"Very often access to information is a key to exclusion.The digital is allowing us to create access to and across fashion practitioners and their work on the continent. These public-facing projects demonstrate the work that is independent.
We believe it is important to showcase diversity, originality, and uniqueness of these kinds of fashion conversations, that are not governed by a very dominant
Western narrative."- Erica de Greef
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud, or watch on YouTube.
Host: Beata Wilczek
Guest: Erica de Greef
Music: SKY H1
Production: Julia Kąkolewska
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