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Fashion and Self-Fashioning During the Harlem Renaissance
A Global Discovery Series Event Featuring Professor Zita Nunes
  • Wednesday, April 30, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

VIRTUAL


The 1920s Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement, was driven by the belief that Black people must be the ones to represent Black people in literature, art, and politics. There was, however, no consensus about what these representations should look like or whether they should please White or Black audiences—and there was certainly no consensus about what it meant to be Black or to have Black style. Using fashion (an aesthetic, commodity, and practice) as a lens, this talk will present the lively debates about the relationship between race and representation in print and on film, with special attention to Philadelphia connections. 

This talk coincides with commemorations of the 100-year anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance, including the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2025 Spring Gala and “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition, opening May 10th.

Register for the event here: https://www.alumni.upenn.edu/s/1587/gid2/16/interior.aspx?sid=1587&gid=2...