ArtFashion

queer fashion designer jawara explores psychological bondage with new lookbook

April 12, 2018
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Featuring the amazing work of award-winning British-Caribbean fashion designer and artist Jawara Alleyne, ‘Layers Of Self’ is the designer’s latest collection. Shot by the designer himself in Barbados, the collection explores the meaning of being Caribbean, black, and queer with both a Rastafarian and Christian background. Choosing a setting in Barbados that alludes to a time of slavery and post-colonialization, Jawara wanted to reflect on the implications of his complex identity from a historical viewpoint, posing the question of “whether our feelings towards progression, creativity and sexuality and masculinity is keeping us in mental slavery.

“Our identity is constructed of a series of layers and often I feel like I’m forced to choose between aspects of my own sense of self simply so others can place me in accordance to their beliefs.”

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