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. Her style was distinguishable and he says she proudly wore the gown to attend a special evening honoring the National Day of Cameroon with the designer’s father. Ayissi explains that his father, a boxer, had found the fabric utilized for the gown on a trip to Nigeria. He adds that he was unsure what he was doing but he persisted and sewed directly onto the fabric and his mother. This is one of his fondest memories from his younger years.
He co-existed in a family of boxers and dancers. With a family filled with creatives, he’d soon follow suit and begin dancing too, Ayissi details that his siblings had strong personalities. According to the designer, his mother’s elegance in addition to her external and internal beauty also led him to design–she was Miss Cameroon in 1960, a tremendous honor not to be taken lightly. Ayissi also recalls her working for Air France which led her to don chic outfits appropriate at the time as workwear. Her influence carried him for years and it still informs his work today.
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 too 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.
What strikes me most about the exhibition is Ayissi’s transformation of fabrics associated with the African continent into exquisite couture designs. The distinctiveness of his pieces is ethereal. For instance, consider the fourth look from his Autumn/Winter 2019 collection: an evening gown crafted from silk taffeta and cotton tarlatan, adorned with silk taffeta appliqués, and lined with cotton canvas. Its rich magenta hue elevates the piece even further. Another standout is a dress from his Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 collection, crafted from organic Faso Dan Fani cotton fabric handwoven in Burkina Faso. This Ayissi design is elegantly structured, breathing new life into the connotations associated with this historic fabric.
With 43 distinct designs, the exhibition is robust and avoids repetitiveness. The space is divided into sections showcasing various gowns and creations. One section focuses on black designs crafted from African textiles, while another highlights the expansive use of raffia. The black segment of the exhibit illustrates how the hue interacts with shape and movement, accompanied by written commentary. Notably, some renderings feature kente patterns from Ghana in black, offering an exciting perspective that challenges viewers. The idea is that those who walk within the space will understand the lengthy hours it took to craft the designs they are viewing firsthand.
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 Iman 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.
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 Iman’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 Iman for years and years,” he said. Gomes adds that giving SCAD’s students a chance to see Iman’s designs stateside is not something to be taken lightly. He notes that with the show Iman’s 20th anniversary of creating his house is also being celebrated. We couldn’t think of anything more befitting to mark a feat.
Iman 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.
Iman Ayissi: From Africa to the World is on view at SCAD FASH until February 23, 2025.
