A Night at the Brooklyn Museum with the Black Fashion Fair

Photo Credit: Matt Weinberger

The first Black Fashion Fair Museum World Tour in Brooklyn was a joy-filled occasion, we talk to Black Fashion Fair about how it happened.

On Saturday night, the Black Fashion Fair took over the Brooklyn Museum for its first world museum tour.

Antoine Grégory, the founder of Black Fashion Fair, and his team began planning the event at the beginning of 2022. During a phone call, he says that they hoped to do an event to close out the summer and also honor Virgil Abloh who currently has a exhibition of the same name in 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 see as many people as I could.”“Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech”.

Photo Credit: Matt Weinberger

Gregory mentions that Abloh was an avid supporter of the work Black Fashion Fair was doing before his untimely death. He adds that it was like kismet to display his work in a way that felt natural and not stuffy. “Figures of Speech” includes never-before-seen objects from Abloh’s archive spanning design, fashion, architecture and art. For example, pieces from past Off-White and Pyrex Vision collections are on display. In addition, a massive collection of Nike sneakers designed by Abloh are also part of the exhibition.

In addition to creating a curated experience for black creatives to see Abloh’s work, the evening also consisted of Gregory releasing a collaboration between Black Fashion Fair, the Brooklyn Museum, and FUBU. That night an exclusive T-shirt that culminated the partnership was available for purchase. The logo motif was emblazoned with the FUBU logo on the front and came 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 merchandise.” He thinks this was a legendary moment as he believes most museums don’t usually sell black brands inside their gift shops (there was also a special pop-up shop on Saturday that featured other black-owned fashion products ).

Throughout the night, as guests made their way to and from a bar, there were multiple DJs creating an atmosphere of intentional fun. At one point, a DJ MORESOUPPLEASE played several songs from Beyonce’s home-based Renaissance album, including “Heated,” “Cuff It,” “Energy,” and of course, “Break My Soul.” During this moment, the museum seemed to light up with a joyful energy that didn’t feel staged.

Photo Credit: Matt Weinberger

The aim of the Museum World Tour is to welcome those who often feel isolated from museum institutions to come see exhibitions and feel comfortable doing so. The Brooklyn Museum is the first stop of many who are scheduled to come.

“Today we don’t always feel comfortable in these spaces. With the World Museum Tour we are giving people the opportunity to enjoy [museums] with the community”, says Antoine.

He adds, “I’m so thankful for everyone who showed up, so many young, black designers showed up—it really speaks to the work we’re doing at the Black Fashion Fair and the community we’re building.”