the a look The Ivy League is probably one of the most famous in the history of the Anglo-Saxon universe, and therefore in the fashion world in general. Shirts cropped to the last button, polo shirts and blazer Khaki pants, boot loafer And the astonishing rise of brands like J. Press or Brooks Brothers were some of the constants of this way of dressing. According to the sages, it started in 1920, but gained prominence in the 1950s, when wealthy young students from the Ivy League, which includes Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, found in the locker room a way to shout to the world that they are special and unique. . Nothing speaks of a person like that strength that emanated from their coffers.
The Ivy era has been extensively documented in all forms, including in a large bibliography with the likes of Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy himself acting as men to announce a still-living and vibrant trend. However, there are other aspects of the wardrobe influence of the great American heirs that have not been documented that give the matter a completely different dimension. That’s what it’s all about black ivy The final step in locker room history that defined several generations and is now told from the perspective of the African American community.
The book, published by British publisher Real Art Press, is signed by Jason Jules, one of the UK’s top style gurus, whose biography ranges from his work as a consultant for companies like Levi’s or Wrangler to his role as a model officer for clients like Drake; Directing the documentary on John Simmons, a key figure in understanding the aesthetic patterns of the many subcultures that have emerged in the UK in the last half century, or designing teams such as Brand New Heavies, Soul II Soul or Jamiroquai.
“Black ivy is an Ivy League-inspired dress form from the late 1950s through the late 1960s that was embraced by the African-American community and became a vehicle for demanding independence, freedom, and equality,” Jules explains to Us. “For me, it all started with Fred Astaire. I was four years old, and I remember that because they put the glasses on me at that age. The thing is, I really liked Fred Astaire: I loved the way he dressed. It wasn’t until later that I found out that he was going to dress up as Ivy guys. But then he will reinterpret and fix it.” Fred Astaire was Jules’ first aesthetic inspiration, who began collecting portraits of men struck by their style. “I quickly noticed a pattern: I always ended up seeing pictures of African American activists, fighters, and leaders fighting for civil rights. This is where the need to write this book was born.”
Jason Jules expands in the volume the idea that the conservative hypothesis that the great American figures in art, culture, and politics adopted the Ivy style of pure tradition or a purely ambitious career was nothing more than a method of disdain for how men love managed Malcolm X, and poets such as Ted Joan, Lero Jones, or James Baldwin is very famous for creating their own clothes that are worn by people at opposite ends of the social hierarchy.
This 200-plus page volume does not lack the autographs of some of the most famous photographers of the time, such as Dennis Stock, Burt Glenn, Steve Shapiro or William Claxton, the men who immortalized the long-awaited best kings. The book covers the path that led from Washington to Chicago, and from there to New Jersey and Harlem: a road that delves into the places where ivy fever began, later dressed up on magazine covers and vinyl discs of avant-garde music lovers. It also reinforces the theory that Black Ivy has a major influence on the way many now dress, as well as being key to the massive influence that the African-American art collection continues to practice today.
At the origin of this book is the Black Panthers, a radical socialist organization founded in 1966 by two black students, Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, in Auckland, and the message they conveyed in their clothes. “The hat, the black jacket… his way of dressing, his style a look, Instilling fear in many people. They have turned their wardrobe into a kind of language. It is the same context that we can see in break dance or hip hop. That is, if you can get a meltdown beats And turn it into something else, why can’t you take a popular style of clothing and turn it into something completely your own? Therefore, the Black Panthers had an easily defined style, but there was nothing before them. They simply turned something that was already there upside down to convey a message. The same men who were dressed as college professors transformed them a look And, boom, they were already a militia,” Jules sums up.
The most famous and famous character of Black Ivy is none other than jazz musician Miles Davis, who has managed to recreate great music in a relatively short period of time. But Jules sets his sights on other collections that are rarely celebrated for his aesthetic contributions. “I think jazz musicians are always talked about, how they were at the cutting edge. But the real pioneers, I think, are the intellectuals and the academics and the poets. They were the ones who really started this. When Miles Davis dressed a certain way, he was taking inspiration from these college professors. And with That being said, the one who influenced me the most was precisely, Miles Davis, because he was able to create style and identity for more than just fashion. He worked for a few years, left a strong message for posterity, and then left.”
Although we’re talking about something that happened over half a century ago, the Black Ivy hasn’t gone away, it’s still alive, and transforming with each generation that approaches it. “I would say that the coolest part of Ivy League style, the part that lives today, is following in the footsteps of Black Ivy. The reason the black community feels entitled to dress like this is because they know they are following in the footsteps of men like Malcolm X or Miles Davis. In addition, today we have celebrities who are able to update all this heritage, influencing it with their own brands, such as musicians Tyler, The Creator or Pharrell Williams, the first with Golf Wang and the second with Billionaires Boys Club,” concludes Jules.
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