Photos(^4):^ Delphine^ Dialloindividuality in Wow Wow. ...
Owning a piece of Wow shares
that vibrancy. It’s your version
of your personal ‘wow.’ ” The
company creates cloth using
adire, a resist-dyeing technique
primarily from Nigeria (Wun-
mi’s design aesthetic is a fusion
of Japanese and African, she
says) while the colors – bright
hues often mixed with indigo –
recall the fruits and textile pat-
terns of an African market.
Wunmi’s current project
revisits Brown’s Grace for its
20th anniversary presentation
and includes a new complemen-
tary dance, Mercy. For the latter
piece, Brown collaborated with
a range of musicians, including
bassist and singer Meshell
Ndegeocello, to perform
Ndegeocello’s original score.
Wunmi called on science
fiction and Afropunk for her
designs, turning to Octavia
Butler’s novels Kindred and
Wild Seed for inspiration. The
novels have prompted ques-
tions that can be read as the
guiding principles of Wunmi’s
creative life: “Where did we
come from? Where do we go
from here? What will we make
of the new space?”
As for the future, Wunmi
aspires to extend her collabora-
tions beyond choreographers
and musicians to artisans from
a variety of practices including
furniture and interior design,
green accessories, and architec-
ture. Her goal is to build on
what was once perceived as
“local” craft to grow Wow Wow
into a global brand.wunmi.com
Paulette Young, PhD, is a cultural
anthropologist, curator, independent
scholar, and the director of the
Young Robertson Gallery in
New York, which specializes in
the arts of the African diaspora.Empowering women
and celebrating the individual
are key components
of Wow Wow.Wunmi’s clothing line
is a fusion of influences,
much like the artist.
Traditional West
African textiles and
dyes, modern patterns,
bright colors, and
fashion-forward cuts
yield something that
feels new and familiar
at the same time.40 american craft aug/sept 19