If you spend hours roaming the “intrawebs” searching for wedding inspiration, then like me, you’ve certainly seen your fair share of euro centric victorian style weddings. It’s always a refreshing pleasure to get a jolt from the passive web surfing state that one gets into. That slap out of autopilot, comes from the amazingly talented Yinka Shonibare MBE , a contemporary designer who’s provocative exhibits bring a whole new meaning to the term: fusion.
I ask you this, what do you get when you blend the colorful and expressive fabrics of West Africa (Ankara) to the classic textures of Victorian lace? Pure Genius.
Inspiration: VICTORIAN SECRETS – AFROCENTRIC
UK based Nigerian designer Yinka Shonibare MBE, has placed his mark on painting, sculpting, multi-media and fashion exhibition in a way that I haven’t seen before. His work explores contemporary African identity and its relationship to European colonialism through provocative interpretation. Not to mention, it makes for exciting inspiration for the Victorian style bride who dares to dream in culture.
(Above: Blue Ankara dress by Juanjo Oliva via FashionJunkii; White Victorian Dress; All Victorian fusion attire by Yinka Shonibare MBE )
Ankara is an elaborately designed wax fabric that is very common in west African attire. It’s been making a huge splash on western runways in recent shows, a rebirth if you will.
Why limit you palette to ankara fabrics? Depending on your heritage, a victorian tailored bridal gown would make quite the statement when paired with a much different textile such as saree, kimono or even kilt fabric…done tastefully of course. The dream palette featured earlier today is just one of the many examples of how you could plan a Victorian style wedding using specific colors. As you know, there’s a range of other colors from which to pick, and instead of a classic white gown, you can see how the sky’s the limit when it comes to fusion couture. 
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*sigh* your blog is just amazing. I know I have mentioned this before, but wow!
Love this theme and the beautiful photos that been collected here…
I love that bouquet with fabric flowers, it’s so gorgeous!
my mouth dropped when i saw the bouquet as well. Got my thinking of all the possibilities for decor ideas, beyond just using west african fabric. Plus, I’m biased towards anything that evoke this era anyway, so it could be made out of raffia and straw and I’d be excited.
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