AFRO IMAGINARIES: FASHION EXPERIENCES OF MICRO CULTURAL ENTRPRENEURSHIP IN ITALY

Afro suggestions have long been present in the collections of Italian fashion designers, but it was only in 2020 that five Afro-descendent designers, part of the WAMI Collective, took part in the Milan Fashion Week. This event contributed to unhinge the idea that “Italian” and “Made in Italy” matched an exclusively white identity, promoting an authentic narration of what “Afro” and “Afro-Italian” mean. Fashion in Italy, however, is a complex world rooted in districts and proximity networks, supporting individuals through self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship, and social workshops that encourage healing and learning through the creation of beauty. \r\nIn between 2021 and 2022 over thirty non-directive interviews were collected. Within the Afro-descendant diaspora, three categories of actors were identified: designers at various stages of affirmation, creatives in the formal/informal grey area who worked with a network of customers based on acquaintance, and tailors involved in social tailoring projects. It was thus possible to investigate themes related to exoticism and nostalgic trade, storytelling, and negotiation of shared meanings, in a process that aims at moving forward from a post-colonial mindset toward new cultural imaginaries that have the potential to become gateways not merely to inclusive creativity but also to social inclusion.