DIOR collaborates with the Black Diaspora artist
A jagged Atlantic beach in Africa opens the video clip of the Dior maison, before the camera takes us to the studio of Boafo, a self-taught illustrator and painter originally from Ghana, whose gestural portraiture has an eloquent sense of proud humanity. The Spring-Summer 2021 Collection is in fact a meeting between the creative director of Dior Homme Kim Jones and Amoako Boafo, known above all for his series of paintings "Black Diaspora". Boafo likes to paint friends, family and characters he admires, who pose in front of themselves wearing Dior. A group of them gathered in his studio in Accra and in what appears to be an improvisation show, nothing but the artistic expression of two creatives through the energy and personality of the protagonists of the video.
Boafo paints, literally, smearing large canvases with colored oil dyes with his fingers. His subjects pose in front of bright yellow and turquoise backdrops. Sketched pictorial effects have been masterfully transferred to clothing. The powerful pictorial color block is translated into the clothes, as in the patterns of the sweaters or on the surface of maxi blouses, in the prints of the shirts, shirts and tops. Very short shantung shorts combined with tuxedo sashes, tasseled jackets, technical coats with bows, glittered prints and super colored sweaters and sweaters, nappa beret caps (a bit reminiscent of those of the African military), a lime yellow military suit, sandals sport price lists and also shoulder bags and micro buckets (yes for him) that will surely be new must-haves for the next season. Although it is one of Jones' most bohemian collections, where sport exists but in a more rarefied way, they strike the mix of prints, colors and details such as ultra short shorts and bags, which would also be perfect for her.
“I really love his job. I wanted to work with an African artist for a long time because I grew up in Africa. And African art has always been important to me, "explains Jones. One of the designers whose message supports the Black Lives Matter movement and in perfect synchrony with the historical moment of change and spirit of inclusiveness we are experiencing.
Pictures: PR
