Antoine Gregory
Photo Credit: Matt Weinberger
Black Fashion Fair's first Museum World Tour in Brooklyn was a joy-filled occasion, we speak with Black Fashion Fair about how it happened.
On Saturday evening, Black Fashion Fair took over the Brooklyn Museum for its first-ever Museum World Tour.
Antoine Grégory, Black Fashion Fair’s founder, and his team began planning the event at the top of 2022. Over a call, he says they were hoping to do an event to close out the summer and also honor Virgil Abloh who currently has an eponymous exhibition at the museum.
“There was a lot of community around this event and getting people inside the museum.” He also adds, “Virgil is one of the great artists of our time, it was important for me to get as many people as I could to see “‘Virgil Abloh: Figures Of Speech.’”
Photo Credit: Matt Weinberger
Gregory mentions that Abloh was an avid supporter of the work that Black Fashion Fair was doing before his untimely passing. He adds it felt like kismet to showcase his work in a way that felt natural rather than stuffy. “Figures Of Speech” includes never-before-seen objects from Abloh’s archive spanning design, fashion, architecture, and art. For instance, pieces from past Off-White and Pyrex Vision collections are on display. Additionally, a massive collection of Nike sneakers that Abloh designed are also a part of the exhibit.
Aside from creating a curated experience for Black creatives to view Abloh’s work, the evening also consisted of Gregory releasing a collaboration between Black Fashion Fair, Brooklyn Museum, and FUBU. That night an exclusive T-shirt culminating the partnership was available for purchase. The logo tee was emblazoned with FUBU’s logo across the front and come in two different variations. “It’s probably the most iconic Black brand to come out of the ‘90s,” Gregory said. “It was really cool to have them be a part of it and design the merch.” He feels this was a legendary moment since he believes most museums typically don’t sell Black brands within their gift shops (on Saturday there was also a special pop-up shop featuring other Black-owned fashion products).
Throughout the night while guests frolicked to and from a bar there were multiple DJs who set an intentional vibe of fun. At one point, one DJ MORESOUPPLEASE unleashed multiple songs off of Beyonce’s house-centric Renaissance album including “Heated,” “Cuff It,” “Energy” and of course the single “Break My Soul.” During this moment, the museum seemed to light up with joyous energy that didn’t feel staged.
Photo Credit: Matt Weinberger
Museum World Tour’s goal is to welcome those who often feel ostracized from museums institutions to come view exhibitions and feel comfortable doing so. Brooklyn Museum is the first stop of many that are slated to come.
“Today we don’t always feel comfortable in these spaces. With Museum World Tour we’re giving people the chance to enjoy [museums] with community,” Antoine says.
He adds, “I’m very grateful to everyone that showed up, so many young, Black designers showed up – it really speaks to the work that we’re doing at Black Fashion Fair and the community we’re building.”
