By Robyn Mowatt ·Updated October 3, 2024
Designer Imane Ayissi is gracious by the time I arrive to tour his new exhibit in a pristine space within the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta campus. Within a dedicated space inside the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion and Film, I am greeted by Ayissi, his brand manager Jean-Marc Chauve, and the creative director of SCAD FASH Rafael Gomes. What I developed throughout the tour led by Jean-Marc and Ayissi is that the exhibition is a labor of love that was brought to fruition by the trio. Imane Ayissi: From Africa to the World is also meant to be a tribute to Ayissi who is originally from Cameroon. Consisting of 43 looks alongside sketches of each ensemble, personal artworks of Ayissi, and lastly, a spirit of joy encompasses the exhibition. The latter is pivotal, especially given the singularity of the space that was chosen to key in on the designer’s talent.
The final look within the space is a velvet dress Ayissi designed in the 1980s for his mother, Eyanga Ayissi. He says she is one of his original muses. Hersrc=”https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ATL_2024Fall_Exhibitions_Ayissi_CG_160_TF_v2-scaled.jpeg” alt=”Cameroonian Couture Designer Imane Ayissi Gets His Due With SCAD Exhibit” width=”400″ height=”285″ />Courtesy of SCAD
He’d go on to design dresses for his sisters and his household. Ayissi’s love for reshaping past designs into clothing led him to helm his eponymous house. His journey to this work was a calling. Before he was toiling away with his hands creating couture gowns he says was enraptured by the beauty of his mother’s outfits.
Design was his way of expressing himself especially since he’d already been spending time sketching as a child. Eventually, he joined the Cameroon National Ballet which allowed him to tour internationally while working as a model. Throughout his time as a model, he worked with fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Lanvin, Valentino, and more.
His designs became paramount to him as the years stretched on–by 2001 he started his eponymous label. Ayissi must have felt a moment larger than life when he received the invitation to present his Spring/Summer 2020 collection as a guest member of the Chambre Syndical de la Haute Couture. The decadent designs in this collection titled “Akouma” consisted of gowns and dresses with intricate attention to detail–he became the first sub-Saharan designer to be invited to show on the Haute Couture calendar in Paris after presenting. Look 22 which is a part of From Africa to the World features a gown with black flowers made of hand-dyed Obom bark cloth from Cameroon. Swarovski crystals are intricately placed throughout.
Courtesy of SCAD
What strikes me most about the exhibition is Ayissi’sdecoding=”async” src=”https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ATL_2024Fall_Exhibitions_Ayissi_CG_115_TF_v1-scaled.jpeg” alt=”Cameroonian Couture Designer Imane Ayissi Gets His Due With SCAD Exhibit” width=”400″ height=”500″ />Courtesy of SCAD
The raffia section is a surefire way for viewers to understand the standard that Ayissi has set in regard to design. Take his custom piece created for Mrs. Angelique Kidjo–it was created with a magenta silk material paired with viscose radzimir and natural raffia which appeared in green–the raffia was sourced from Madagascar. Its lining was created with cotton, Mrs. Kidjo wore this design to the Grammy Awards in 2022.
An additional raffia design that is just as poignant is a Haute Couture look from Ayissi’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection. This was perhaps one of the most vivacious elements within the space–it features a jacket created with raw Cameroonian raffia in brown and a bias-cut skirt made from silk crepon.
Fabrics, materials, shoes, and sketches are what Gomes recalls seeing while visiting the Imane Ayissi showroom. Artworks that Ayissi has collected in the past which were within the showroom also find their way into the set design of the exhibition. All of these elements served as inspiration for From Africa to the World and led to the flow as one walks through the space which is made up of multiple rooms.
Courtesy of SCAD
Before concluding our conversation, Ayissi emphasized the importance of his participation in the exhibition. He shared that after Gomes visited his showroom several times in France, he felt that Gomes truly understood the beauty and aesthetic inherent in his work. The designer’s willingness to trust Gomes resulted in a tremendous compilation. Although editing the looks was a challenging process, it ultimately led to a concise display that fully showcased Imane’s creations through raffia, textiles, and other distinctive sections. “It was quite a lot of work–a process,” Ayissi said.
In an interview, Gomes said that he felt that the exhibition was a huge gift. He is proud to have played a significant role in Imane’s first museum exhibition. “We were following Imane for years and years,” he said. Gomes adds that giving SCAD’s students a chance to see Imane’s designs stateside is not something to be taken lightly. He notes that with the show Imaen’s 20th anniversary of creating his house is also being celebrated. We couldn’t think of anything more befitting to mark a feat.
Imane Ayissi: From Africa to the World is proof of SCAD’s ability to showcase the innovations of worldly talents outside of their day-to-day–what ensued was a considerable and worthwhile documentation of Ayissi and his creations. It also undoubtedly offers a connection between the African diaspora and the Western hemisphere in a larger-than-life way.
Imane Ayissi: From Africa to the World is on view at SCAD FASH until February 23, 2025.
TOPICS: exhibition fashion exhibition
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