BBC Culture – A book of portraits captures the style and resilience of West African women over the decades. Its author Catherine McKinley tells the story behind the collection.
When I was a teen I travelled from the US to Scotland with my family. On our first night in Edinburgh, we sat in a pub across from several Nigerian couples, resplendent in bell bottoms and African prints, paired with plaids and Harris tweeds. They were spinning the traditional textures into something chic, subversive and all their own. One woman wore a Shetland sweater under her embroidered dress, a wool scarf wrapped stylishly on her head. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. It was a simple new logic – style and self definition over everything. Read more.