Wearable art is not new, it has become a normal thing for black people in New York, especially in Harlem – a lifestyle. 55 years ago, the Harlem Fashion Institute (HIF) was founded by Lois K. Alexander Lane, and a few years later the institute organized its own fashion shows during Harlem Week. These shows ran from 1979 to 1996, but the spirit and style seen on these streets never ended. Today, the exhibition “Showing Out: Fashion in Harlem” at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library pays tribute to the legendary art that was at the heart of HIF and Harlem Week. The Harlem pop-up, guest curated by Soleo, features exhibits including archival images, costumes, video footage of runway shows, and physical archival materials such as old runway programs. “A big reason for doing this exhibition is because a lot of records were lost in the 1960s. [HIF] It has closed. Hope this helps you remember. [these moments] And we’ll be able to identify some of these people,” Souleo told The Cut.
Souleo knew he had to curate this exhibit when, while cleaning out his partner Bo McCall’s closet one day, he stumbled across photos of Harlem runway shows from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. He was instantly captivated and knew more people should know about what McCall and other Black creatives were doing back then. And so Showing Out was born. “I really wanted to extend this legacy to this generation and also to older generations who, for some reason, missed out on what was going on at the Harlem Fashion Institute,” he says.
Souleo’s goal is to promote Black history, documented by Black people, in a country that often turns a blind eye to us until Black history becomes “trending.” It’s easy to say that none of this existed or happened without the archival photographs and video footage, but Souleo refuses to let these memories be erased. He hopes visitors leave the exhibit inspired not only by the artwork on display, but also by the motivation to support other Black fashion organizations currently working. We are rewriting history, we are history, and every step of the way deserves to be recorded.
Below is a preview of what to expect at “Showing Out: Fashion in Harlem.” These archival images capture the essential spirit that Black people in Harlem carried and expressed through fashion. The exhibit opened today and will run through September 16th at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.
Photo: Beau McCall
“Tonya Jackson is one of those models that I really wanted to track down. Unfortunately, I don’t know where she is now, but she was one of the most popular models at runway shows. She was in almost every runway show for those few years. I heard she then appeared in a campaign for Dark & Lovely hair care products. She definitely used that as a springboard. It’s great that she came out like that from her experimentation at the Harlem Institute of Fashion. But I love this photo.
Think about fashion today. We all experience fashion shows, but we only see them through social media because we aren’t invited. These shows were by the people, for the people. They were free and accessible to everyone, and they really helped democratize fashion in that sense, making it a community experience. Instead of something exclusive and exclusive where only people with money could experience the clothes, this was for everyone. I loved this because it really captured that energy.”
Photo: Carl Crutchfield
“This is a work by one of the featured designers in the exhibition, Queen Bilquis, aka Cynthia Harmon. She has an incredible background. She converted to Islam at the age of 15 and began creating designs. [that reflected that]Her Fashion [stems] Her identity as a Black Muslim woman inspired her demographic to have clothing options that embodied their faith traditions but were also stylish, and while she was doing this in the mid-1980s, it still connects with today’s modest fashion trends of less revealing skin and less revealing clothing. [clothing] Depending on your faith and personal preference.
She was one of the most popular designers when she had her runway shows from 1987 to 1991, because she embraced black culture and black faith and gave women the opportunity to express themselves on the runway. And I love this because it’s so dramatic. I see this on Drag Race because of the high collars, the flares in the garments, the skirts, the trains. It’s all gorgeous! So I definitely wanted to include this. Also, the material is taffeta, which designers are embracing and are seeing again on the runway. Everything old is new again.”
Photo: Beau McCall
“One of the reasons I chose this is because she is selling this outfit and is proud of it. She is happy. [and] She is full of joy. So I wanted to celebrate fashion, especially in black culture, as a way to express ourselves, find joy, and claim who we are. And I think her stance, this pose, achieves all of that and more. As a curator, [some of these images] It may not exactly match my fashion tastes, or at least today’s fashion tastes and trends, but it captures a moment in time, and that’s just as important, because through that process we get to see the evolution of fashion. Whether you like the garment or not, it’s still important to the story and the history.
This is a glamorous, theatrical, very costumey fashion moment, which is also important. I love this because she is really living in the moment, and I think you can see a lot of that in the images. You can see them having fun without any regard for who they were or who they are.”
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