16 April 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- At School...Ms. Bintu Kabba, Howard University



If you know Ms. Bintu Kabba, then you are well-aware of her position on Howard University's campus as one of the most lauded students when it comes to possessing an extremely polished sense of style. As we can see, Ms. Kabba is not intimidated in the slightest when it comes to experimenting with color palettes.

On this note of color, I've been tinkering of late about the similarities that are shared between African dress and that of the culture that surrounds African American dress. Ms. Kabba is from Sierra Leone, but spent most of her formative years in Philadelphia so to me her perspective of dress is figurative of both cultures. I've seen her fashion lovely, multihued African lace ensembles and at the same time very modish, Western-influenced pieces that are nothing short of vibrant when paired together.

So I ask you this? What is the difference between the vibrant colors that adorn African lace, ankara, or kente cloth fabrics and those that are consciously mixed and matched resplendently in a style definitive of todays contemporary African American youth? The fabrics may not be similar, but owing to the African ancestry common to both cultures, there is a shared aim that can be seen in the affinity towards embracing energetic color schemes in ones dress.

I'm just pondering for future projects, but in the mean time enjoy what Ms. Kabba has to offer!

6 comments:

Paul Pincus said...

Like that second shot.

Anonymous said...

Love the look, so spring.
But why wear high waisted skirt and cover the high waisted part with a belt?

matt williams said...

I love her look.

Ariel said...

Wow, I love what she's wearing.

Abdul-Qadir D. Islam said...

Chike-lkechi- There isn't much of a difference, We see the prints of African material used in high fashion and mirrored by lower designers. Prints, and colors often used in traditional African materials are in high demand, and people are buying courtesy of high fashions use of these prints. Why people of African decent tend to like these prints, and bright colors may be innate, BESIDES-color looks good on chocolate people lol.

She looks great, the high waist works for her cause she's short. The belt..hmm good point?

The hair says, "This isn't a dress up day, but I look good often" lol.

Nice use of color.

Anonymous said...

i really the fact that the skirt has pockets!!!!!