Culturally aware fashion boosted by social media

Sarah Jessica Parker rocked Salt-n-Pepa-style gold bamboo "door-knocker" earrings and a matching nameplate necklace for several seasons as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. Years later American Apparel released its "Afrika" line, full of tribal print pieces. And decades before, black jazz musicians became muses for 1920s flappers of all races.

African and African-American people have been lauded as the silent trendsetters for mainstream style for years. But now, thanks to increased visibility, the faceless fashion innovators are cutting out the middleman to create something all their own.

"The will to adorn is the second most notable characteristic in Negro expression," writes Zora Neale Hurston in Characteristics of Negro Expression essay. This is second only to drama.

Drama and the will to adorn are both omnipresent in another form of black expression: fashion.

In early 2015, an afro-haired East Orange, New Jersey high school senior named Kyemah McEntyre broke the Internet in a deep-V, African-print ballgown she designed herself.

After winning the Cicely Tyson School of Performing Arts' prom queen title, McEntyre posted photos of her design, adding, "When European ideals and standards of beauty mean absolutely nothing."

The 18-year-old's black ethereality comes alongside an era of images showing men in brightly colored dashikis and women in African wax print bathing suits, street-wear jerseys colored like the pan-African flag, and costume statement jewelry created as an homage to favorite black female superstars.

Something's happening here.

Image-driven social media platforms like Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest have helped make the ever-globalizing world even more accessible, and even more African.

Philadelphia menswear designer Walé Oyéjidé recognizes the effects of the Internet on culturally influenced fashion, saying, "I do think it's becoming a bit more popular to see this amalgamation on this side of the world because of social media, and because people are becoming more web savvy with their marketing techniques."

Take a look at custom-clothing brand Geechi Vigilantes which has garnered an impressive online following in just two years by getting their threads on über-popular social media stars like local Sianni Lane, who is daughter of Philly rapper Charli Baltimore.

The Philly-based brand's line is derived from the Gullah people of South Carolina, descendants of enslaved Africans who have preserved their African ancestry with regard to everything from burial practices to diet to language.

The 'Vigilante' namesake comes from groups who take justice into their own hands. It also derives inspiration from Nigerian Igbo culture, of which creator, owner and Temple University alum Jason O. belongs. Geechi Vigilantes' designs feature red, yellow, green and black colors that adorn the Flag of the Republic of Biafra (often called the Igbo flag), images of African women carrying baskets, and images of the African continent.

"Clothing is important in establishing larger movements," says Jason O., "because it demonstrates unity among those who believe in the movement and also consciously attracts others to join the movement."

The brand hopes to serve as an advocate "for all individuals to research their own historical beliefs and practices," Jason O. says.

New York-based accessories brand Lost Queens, founded by Eboni Merriman, draws inspiration from renowned black women in history. You can score a "Lisa Bonet" namesake arm cuff or an ornate "Billie Holiday" necklace to truly add the essence of black female trailblazers to your ensemble.

Oyéjidé's brand Ikiré Jones marries an African and Asian aesthetic with Italian silhouettes and European imagery. Beyond the bold, culturally inspired prints, though, is an infusion of Afro-futurist ideals portrayed not only through design, but also in elaborate short stories Oyéjidé creates for each collection and each piece of clothing.

His newest one reads, in part:

"We are the children of migration. Some of us were the victims of cruel circumstance and crueler men. Many of us were taken before our time. But we are here. And from beyond the skies, our voices will guide you, if you listen. As we forever sing."

Body adornment seeped in ethos is what separates the now-prominent phenomenon of African and black-American apparel, notably seen in Forever 21's trendy, mass-produced "Tribal Print Tunic" and the like.

The meaning each of these designers associates with their pieces harkens back to the weight the Black Panthers or Black Dandies placed on what they wore.

"From afros to the vaguely militaristic style of the Black Panthers," says Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan, "personal appearance was used as a kind of bullhorn to amplify a message about empowerment, self-esteem, personal dignity and independence."

Calling it probably the most famous instance of politically propelled attire, Givhan says the Black Panther's ideologies were a complete lifestyle communicated through their clothes. The black pants, jackets, afros and berets were an aesthetic anti-establishmentarianism, like Bob Dylan's working-class, jeans-wearing uprising. And with today's Black Lives Matter movement, amplified after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, political ideals and fashion are entangled once again.

It's easy to understand how a Geechi Vigilantes "Traditional Wear Dashiki" would receive a much less visceral reaction than that of the brand's inspiration, the formerly enslaved, Afrocentric Gullah people. In that way, the clothing serves not only as a voice spawned for members of a movement, but also an opportunity to expand it, to bring people closer without scaring them away.

"For me, clothing is a convenient vehicle for stories and messages that I hope to get across," Oyéjidé says.

It's the perfect time for Oyéjidé's storytelling.

Social media has already proven itself an indispensable avenue for communication and, now, more so than ever, social change. Likely, it's the reason brands like Ikiré Jones, Geechi Vigilantes, Lost Queens and countless others are thriving.

"The world is more closely connected and in the same way that musicians, artists and filmmakers look broadly for ideas, so do fashion designers," said Givhan.

"African Americans specifically have been the most influential culture on the globe for the past three or four decades," explains Oyéjidé. "We're reaching a tipping point where businesses that have ignored the African-American voice, or have cherry-picked the ideas that best suited them, will eventually be edged out because the originators of African and African-American style clothing have matured, and are able to speak [for and] market themselves. In short, we're coming."