The Event
Fashion Africana where Culture met couture, a global celebration of
the beauty and diversity of the African Diaspora, featured
African-inspired design, dance and music inspired by South Africa,
Brazil and the Caribbean.
The Purpose
To pay tribute to the Lost Boys of the Sudan, and their
extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Fleeing on foot from
one of Africa’s cruelest civil wars (which continues today), over
3000 Sudanese men resettled in the United States in 2001, many in
Pittsburgh.
 The Design Process
Time was of the essence and I only had a month to come up with a
design that would honor them and reflect the beauty of the women
from their homeland. I researched Sudan on the internet and found
references to the attire that the women wore. I happen to come
across a red and yellow outfit worn by the married Sudanese women
and felt this would be a great inspiration to work from.
I also found that Coptic Crosses or Ethiopian Crosses, they are also
called, are prevalent in Sudan and thought this would make a
beautiful accent to apply on the back of this wedding dress. I had
to keep in mind that more then half of the people in Sudan are
Muslim - and this would influence my design direction - which meant
keeping as much of the body covered as possible. The hat was
designed to cover the model's hair and the tulle veil added just
enough drama to frame her silhouette.
Click Here to View Video of Fashion Show
Transforming a fashion show into a vehicle for social awareness
requires sensitivity.
Demeatria Gibson Boccella, executive producer and founder of Fashion
Africana and a co-founder of Utopia Model Agency, designed this
year's event as a tribute to a group of Sudanese refugees who fled
civil war, many of them ultimately making their way to the United
States. Thirty-seven of the young men settled in Pittsburgh in 2001.
The group as a whole became known as the "Lost Boys of Sudan." A
feature documentary by that name chronicled the journeys of some of
these young men as they settled in Texas and Kansas.
"There is a fine line here," Gibson Boccella says. "Their journey
did not consist of glamour, or anything that you would associate
with a fashion runway. We had the idea that we could use the regions
through which they traveled as an inspiration for the designs in the
show."
She met with many of the young men to gather their ideas and assess
their feelings about such a show before moving forward. The idea,
she says, is to introduce them to the Pittsburgh community at large,
to help them make connections that might improve their access to
better education or better jobs. Most of them already are working
full-time or going to school and have become self-sufficient, she
says, but their lives could be enriched if more people in the area
were aware of their situations.
"What they were escaping from was a genocide," she says. "And
certainly we want to be sensitive to that. And we felt it was
appropriate to include them. It's an opportunity to embrace them and
welcome them to the city."
The show is a benefit for the African-American Cultural Center and
is presented by the center in collaboration with the Carnegie Museum
of Art and the Carnegie International 2004. Utopia created and
produced the show. Benetton will donate clothing to the
Pittsburgh-area Sudanese.
The show is a rarity among Pittsburgh fashion events in that it
focuses exclusively on fashion designers, rather than designs simply
chosen from boutiques that do not necessarily feature original,
locally created fashions. Included are nine Pittsburgh designers, as
well as a handful of designers from the Washington, D.C., and New
York City areas, as well as one from Paris. The show takes its
influence from the regions the Lost Boys traveled in their escape,
including Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States.
Bridal designer Therez Fleetwood is responsible for the show's
closing design, a red dress with gold overlays based on clothing
worn by Sudanese women. Fleetwood became involved with the show
after seeing an advertisement for it in Essence magazine. "I was on
a plane on my way to Jacksonville, and I saw it," she says. "I
thought, 'I have to do this.' So I just called up and they said
they'd love to have me."
Fleetwood says she's interested in fashion shows that combine art
and culture. "I have a love affair with Africa and have traveled
there many times," she says. "Anytime there is an event involving
African culture, art and design, I want to be involved. I was
especially drawn to the idea of a show that highlighted the Lost
Boys' story."
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