Harlem’s Avatar

For my Bridge 3 Project, my group was assigned the area of Harlem. Through these past few weeks I’ve learned a lot about what Harlem has developed into now. Prior to this project I had done research on the Renaissance in Harlem, so in turn I knew a lot about the turning point in culture for this neighborhood so I felt the urge to move towards that time. Thinking of the Renaissance, ideas like tradition, jazz, and newly accepted cultures are brought to mind. This was a time where it was finally accepted to listen to traditionally African-American jazz music, celebrate black writers and artists, as well as a time to let go of your worries and go out for dancing and a fun time. We decided to do a general color scheme of warm colors to represent the background of those both from African and Latin descent and show the warmth of the period, regarding all of the artwork displayed at the time of the Renaissance. In order to attempt and get that message across, we created clothing using many different textures and patterns. While fitting our idea together, we had the idea of creating a representation of the different cultures with the various patterns present in the shirt, as well as the shoes. When thinking of a shape for our design, we wanted to emphasize a sense of flow throughout the look. showing a long flowing skirt (In place of Wiaam’s skirt, which shows same concept) with a tight shirt showing a sense of seriousness of the time along with the overcoat. We wanted the accessory pieces of our look to stand out, making them more extravagant, and complex, in order to show a sense of letting loose with the music. Overall I believe our outfit was quite successful although some parts individually were made which I didn’t necessarily feel a  strong sense of connection to Harlem.

Leave a reply

Skip to toolbar