THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020D1
Y
FASHION BEAUTY NIGHTLIFE
Tazhiana Gordon, describes herself as a messy, mixed-media kind of scrapbooker. She uses brightly colored inks and stamps and
stickers to layer compositions on paper for personal albums, photos of which she shares with a close-knit online community of fellow crafters. ¶ In early
June, in response to the killing of George Floyd by the police and the national protests that followed, she broke from her usual social media posts of scrapbook
pages filled with cheerful phrases and family photos. Instead, Ms. Gordon, 29, who is a nurse, wrote about joining the crowds in New York and her thoughts
about the reckoning with Blackness the country must face. ¶ She lost 30 followers on her Instagram account — a sting that gave her pause. Though some of
the loss could be attributed to the normal fluctuations of follower counts, she said, she suspected it was because she had simply said
KATE MEDLEY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
By MICHELLE GARCIA
CONTINUED ON PAGE D6
In a Pinterest Era, Paper Still Has Power
PEOPLE OF COLOR
S AY T H E
SCRAPBOOKING
COMMUNITY
OVERLOOKS THEIR
CONTRIBUTIONS.
A scrapbook by Azzari Jarrett of Wilmington, N.C., who recently released a line of stamps and cards supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The food, beauty products
and more that Americans
abroad long for. Page 4.
Memories
Of Home
YAZMIN BUTCHER
2 SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED
A cooped-up nation wants its
outdoor gear. BY JOHN HERRMAN
3 SHORTCUTS
Another pandemic revival:
press-on nails. BY JACKIE SNOW
3 SKIN DEEP
Goodbye to Clarisonic and its
facial brush. BY COURTNEY RUBIN
4 FASHION INDUSTRY
Work conditions at Malaysian
factories. BY ELIZABETH PATON
The recent outpouring of support for Black-
owned businesses has brought attention to
fashion labels that work with African prints.
The labels, many of them founded by West
African designers living in the United
States and Britain, are turning the tradi-
tional patterns of West African fabric into
contemporary American silhouettes.
“May was our biggest month ever, and
June is going to be bigger than May,” said
Addie Elabor, the founder and designer of
D’iyanu, an African print label introduced
in 2014.
Nicolette Orji, also known as Nikki Billie
Jean, the founder of the All Things Ankara
blog and a designer herself, was similarly
upbeat. “Anyone who is selling anything on-
line right now is feeling that support, and
it’s amazing — though kind of overdue.”
While the largest market for most of
these designers is Black people born and
raised in America, success this year has
also brought new buyers.
“When I first released my masks, one of
my white friends texted me to say, ‘Can I
buy this or would that be a bad idea?’ ” said
Maya Lake, the founder of Boxing Kitten,
the label that is often credited as one of the
first to put ankara print on the American
fashion radar.
“I said she should buy it,” Ms. Lake said.
“I mean, especially now if you want to sup-
port Black-owned businesses. I think it’s
fine.”
But, Ms. Lake said, there is an important
African Prints Find a Bigger Market
CONTINUED ON PAGE D5
MICHAEL STARGHILL JR. FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
The designer Yetunde Olukoya in her home office in Texas. “I would like to see African print everywhere,” she said.
By SHIRA TELUSHKIN
Discussions of spreading a
distinct look mix with those
of cultural appropriation.