The Global Circulation of African Fashion (Dress, Body, Culture)

Transnational movements of people, cultural objects, images and identities have played a vital role in creating an informal global network for African fashion - from clothing designers and tailors to dyers and jewellery makers. This book traces the c hanging meanings, aesthetics and histories of the thriving informal African fashion network through its multicultural cross-roads of Los Angeles, Kenya and Senegal. In African communities, designers compete with each other to survive and often t ravel long distances in search of new markets. Such competition and bridging of cultures fuels creat. Preliminaries......Page 1 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 9 Glossary......Page 11 1 Global Suitcases......Page 13 2 Fashion and the Meanings of “Tradition” in Senegal......Page 39 3 Fashioning Postcolonial Identities in Kenya......Page 85 4 The World Bank, JCPenney, and Artisanal African Fashion in Los Angeles......Page 119 5 Fact, Fabrication and Material Misreading......Page 147 6 The Entanglements of Exchange, the Pleasures of Production, and the Ethics of Export......Page 181 Bibliography......Page 209 Index......Page 221 Acknowledgments -- Global Suitcases: The Informal African Fashion Network -- Fashion And The Meanings Of Tradition: In Senegal -- Fashioning Postcolonial Identities In Kenya -- The World Bank, Jcpenney, And Artisanal African Fashion In Los Angeles -- Fact, Fabrication And Material Misreading: The Genealogy Of Authentic African Print Fabric -- The Entanglements Of Exchange, The Pleasures Of Production, And The Ethics Of Export. Leslie W. Rabine. Includes Bibliographical Reference (p. 197-208) And Index.