Sewing the Freedom Cloth: An Exploration of the Use of Sewing and Dress as Protest within the Black Community, From Slavery to the Runway

Dress reflects and shapes cultural status and values. For Black people specifically, unapologetically showcasing identity through dress has been an important form of protesting against dominant and oppressive societal forces. Beyond just donning clothing, Black fashion designers' garments have served as structural resistance to the fashion industry. While slaves and their immediate descendants used dressmaking knowledge to gain freedom and social mobility, modern Black designers drawn on generational knowledge to advance the status of Black culture and individuals in the streets and on the runway.

This research project was done as a part of my internship with the Texas Fashion Collection during the Summer of 2023. For this research topic, I created a knit dress to compliment the design this of the designers research for this project. This dress was featured along side 4 other designers as a part of a pop-up exhibition displayed in the TFC’s exhibition space in the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design.