MUMBO JUMBO X GRACE WALES BONNER
Mumbo Jumbo a novel written by the African American author Ishmael Reed, first published in 1972. Set in the 1920s, the novel details an epidemic called Jes Grew – a virus carried by black artists causing half of America to recklessly dance and enjoy jazz.
Grace Wales Bonner is known for her thoughtful and thought-provoking collections that draw on a wide range of cultural references, and her use of "Mumbo Jumbo" as inspiration is just one example of this.
The collection was presented during London Fashion Week in February 2019, and it explored themes of spirituality, cultural exchange, and identity.
It draws on a range of cultural influences, including West African and Caribbean animist traditions, as well as the mystical and ritualistic practices of vodou and other belief systems.
The collection features a mix of classic American college wardrobe staples, such as button-down Oxford shirts and indigo jeans, as well as more traditional African and Caribbean-inspired clothing, including silk patchwork robes and talismanic jewelry.
The use of found feathers and Haitian vèvès add a mystical and otherworldly quality to the designs.
With the show accompanied by a special piano performance by Ishmael Reed and Ben Okri, who recited a poem at the presentation, the collection sought to explore African Intellectualism.
The collection also pays tribute to visionary outsider artist James Hampton, who created a complex and intricate shrine called "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly." This dedication to an artist who created a space for spiritual exploration and ritual underscores the collection's focus on the intersection of fashion, mysticism, and ancestral wisdom.
James Hampton worked for more than fourteen years on his masterwork in in solitude, in a rented garage, transforming its drab interior into a heavenly vision, as he prepared for the return of Christ to earth.
He selected shimmering metallic foils, purple paper to evoke spiritual awe and splendor.
The Throne embodies a complex fusion of Christianity and AA spiritual practices overlaying themes of deliverance and freedom.
The designer :
“I was inspired by black intellectual dress at Howard University, the first black university, and I started looking through a lot of yearbooks and identifying a lot of items, like a mac or a varsity jacket, and a specific type of wider tailoring. So it’s actually quite American, but then I’m trying to imbue this classic framework, but with this sense of magic that comes from another place. Voodoo jewelry feathers.”