First Things First

Noted British designer Grace Wales Bonner [her mum is British and her father Jamaican] recently made her debut on the Paris Fashion Week schedule for SS21 with a film that champions her fusion of British-Caribbean style. Thinkin Home, an original film created for Essence, is a collaboration with photographer and film-maker Jeano Edwards, who regularly explores the duality in his Jamaican-American heritage. “I’m passionate about Jamaica, and Grace is someone who actually cares about the culture here. She is someone who cares enough to actually do the research and work in a similar way to how I do.”

And research she did! Inspired by the show Jamaica, Jamaica mounted at the National Gallery of Jamaica, Wales Bonner had conversations with the exhibition’s organisers to complement the research and references for the film. New York-based composer, researcher and archivist James William Blades provided sonic research and Deiwght Peters, founder of Saint International, sourced the film’s cast. Legendary archivist and curator Maxine Walters acted as producer. Production was handled by Los-Angeles based production team Iamsound.

Additionally…

…Bonner shared her creative process with WeTransfer content platform WePresent. The platform, which shares unexpected stories about creative minds, chronicled Wales Bonner’s collections over the years, from her spring Summer 17 show Ezekiel, the 2019 show at London’s Sackler Gallery, and The Wales Bonner Autumn/Winter 2020 collection, Lovers Rock. Lovers Rock served as the first installation in a triptych, with Essence being part two, and the AW21 collection expected to round out the series.

WePresent‘s Lynette Nylander delved even deeper into Essence, with insight from the production team.

From producer Maxine Walters:

“One of my greatest passions is the island of Jamaica, and anything that I can do to bring us all together in whatever fashion, I love. So that for me is my research. The locations, the people, I can do that with my hands tied and both eyes closed. I have a passion for music, I have a passion for signs, I have a passion for fashion, and Grace is such a talent. Why wouldn’t I be involved?”

Bonner, on her creative process:

“I almost see my process as its own artistic practice. A mix of academic research, visual research and different people that I work with contributing to a project that evolves over time. The process is quite porous and the editing is also really important.”

Next

British actress Jodie Turner-Smith is the cover star for Porter magazine — Net-a-Porter’s in-house publication. The Queen & Slim actress, who has jamaican heritage, is also the subject of the magazine’s cover story. Turner-Smith spent her second wedding anniversary talking to Content Director Alice Casely-Hayford via Zoom, about motherhood, how in love she is with her husband, and a string of major roles she has coming up.

CREDITS

Jodie Turner-Smith for Porter magazine

Photographer: Daria Kobayashi Ritch

Art Director: Phil Buckingham

Fashion Editor/Stylist: Natasha Royt

Hairstylist: Kim Kimble

Make-up Artist: Allan Avendaño

Manicurist: Thuy Nguyen

Actor: Jodie Turner-Smith

Then

Designer, stylist, and creative director Akeem Smith is set to debut his first major solo show No Gyal Can Test at Red Bull Arts New York, and vogue.com has taken notice! The show is the culmination of over a decade of compiling a comprehensive archive of Smith’s dancehall past. Smith, who grew up in Waterhouse, Kingston, has with the help of family and friends back home built an archive of photos and videos documenting ’90s dancehall as it happened. Smith had a front-row seat to the dancehall scene as his aunt and grandmother were co-founders of the infamous Ouch Crew, a fashion team that created outré ensembles for dancehall’s elite.

Though photos and videos are at the heart of Smith’s show, sculptures by artist Jessi Reaves and music by Total Freedom, Alex Somers and Physical Therapy also add to the multidimensional experience. In one part of the exhibition, dancehall icon Bounty Killer can be heard reading passages by Jamaican scholar Carolyn Cooper. And of course, outfits by the Ouch Crew are featured prominently throughout. His Aunt Paula, the driving force behind the fashion house, recently flew to New York to attend the show’s opening.

CREDITS

Akeem Smith for vogue.com

Story by: Roxanne Fequiere

Photos: Dario Lasagni and Justin French