Studio 189 (Q9232)
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Studio 189 is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Studio 189 |
Studio 189 is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
“It’s been 10 years since we originally set our intention,” said Studio 189 designer Abrima Erwiah, who debuted the label back in 2013 with actor Rosario Dawson. “This show is evidence of a decade of purpose.”The show was opened by V, formerly Eve Ensler, with an impactful reading celebrating Studio 189’s mission. “In 2013, V told us that one in three women will be raped or sexually violated in her lifetime, and asked for a billion people to take a stance and dance,” reminisced Erwiah. “That changed our lives.” That’s when the designer and Dawson partnered to enact change of their own: “It made us realize that there are so many people who work in the supply chain whose names you don’t know,” she said, “and we said that fashion can be an agent for social change.”Studio 189 clothes are made by hand in Africa with a manufacturing facility in Accra. They are the physical manifestation of years of tradition and hours of manual labor. This season, its wide range of separates expanded into sultry and skin-baring silhouettes including boxy crop tops, racerback tanks, and bustiers and skirts fitted close to the body. Those pieces were made with indigo dyes, hand-batik techniques, and kente weaving. A particularly charming tailored jacket covered in patches, each made by an individual artisan, said it all: You can see the hands in each piece from Studio 189.“Joy was the mood of the season,” said Erwiah, and it always is. Every Studio 189 show is a celebration of life and a dance party that will bring out smiles and foot taps from even the most stoic editors and self-serious Fashion Week attendees. Partly responsible for this cheerful energy is the colorful lineup: “We have colors that remind us of the Caribbean to draw connections between Ghana and its diaspora in the States,” said Erwiah.“We’re hearing there are protests and stuff this Fashion Week,” said Dawson backstage. “We would walk you down the aisle; this is what we stand for, to know who makes your clothes and what impact they have.” In case one needed further proof, the show’s backdrop featured a mural of a few of Studio 189’s artisans. “These hands go slow,” recited V at the start of the show. “Bless these hands. No two pieces are alike.”
10 September 2023
Studio 189 by Abrima Erwiah and Rosario Dawson started its show this season with a voiceover dedication to the former’s father, who passed away recently. That set the tone for a heartfelt and emotive presentation grounded on familial ties and community.After the dedication and an uplifting dance presentation “in honor of those who have fallen,” as Erwiah said in her address to the audience after the show, an almost entirely print-based collection made its way down the runway. It was aptly titled Mélange, which came across in the mixing of prints and colors and more poetically in the casting: a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and sizes. Mélange also because of the compelling mixture of techniques Erwiah recruited to put together this collection: There was hand batik, weaving, patchwork, indigo dyeing, and basket weaving.What’s compelling about Studio 189 is that you can see the hands that touched the pieces every step of the way. The emphasis on storytelling through craftsmanship is honest and endearing, and it certainly won over the crowd this morning. Although at times the volume of pieces on the runway felt overwhelming, the messaging was mostly focused and straightforward. It was aided by cohesive print clashing in the styling, patchworking, and layering. Hand-painted florals and stripes and a run of kente pieces made the most striking stories in the collection. The striped woven fabrics used in looks 47 and 48 were favorites in the crowd; they felt the most elevated and offered welcome visual variance. A standout piece was a button-down skirt with solid silk godets.The show ended as it started, with a dance performance. Dance seems to be big this season; this is the third presentation I’ve been to that featured it—perhaps it reflects a post-pandemic need to get out there and move. At Studio 189 it was about joy, celebration, and homage. “I am inspired by the stories that are woven into our culture and into cloth and that carry us through the past and onto the future,” Erwiah wrote in her show notes. Today’s mélange was a thoughtful celebration of those stories.
11 September 2022
Tears—of sadness and of joy—fell at Abrima Erwiah and Rosario Dawson’s Studio 189 show, which was about much more than clothes. It always is: Studio 189 is a mission-based, sustainably made label that supports African artisans, celebrates Black heritage across the diaspora, and fosters community. But this year, the presentation of the new collection coincided with the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and the co-founders honored that in several ways.The hush that fell before the start of the show was broken by an original composition by Uproot Andy, using sounds he recorded in the days just after 9/11. The show’s first “exit” was made by three musicians: A drummer and two vocalists, Neda Zahraie and Bridget Barkan, who sang a love poem in Farsi and English. Following this, a powerful spoken word piece was performed by Sarah Jones, the Tony Award–winning playwright. After all the clothes had been paraded, there was a moment of silence in remembrance of those lost.Connection is at the core of everything that Studio 189 does: Connection to the land, connection to materials and craft traditions, connections among people, and connection to the past, which was particularly at play this season. The collection was called “Inheritance” because of the way it braids together the Spring 2021 and Fall 2021 collections with this season’s designs. But on this historic day, it was impossible not to think of how we are still coming to terms with the inheritance of 9/11, not to mention American history as a whole.There were a few new silhouettes for Spring—like a maxi skirt that combined kente and indigo-dyed cloth—and new categories, too, including swimwear, in partnership with Cosabella. The print offering was expanded, and patterns and colors were styled to clash for maximum impact. The intermingling of prints, wovens, and patchworks was especially effective; the varied hands of the materials created visual texture as well.These were joyful clothes that were worn joyfully and received that way. As models danced their way down the runway, the audience, seated in a circular formation—representing “the circularity of clothes, of each other, of our humanity,” as Erwiah said to the crowd—danced in their seats. This was a fashion show and a shared emotional experience on a national day of mourning.“So often, when we’re in pain we step outside of the circle, we pull back,” said Dawson in her address to the guests.
“We think it’s too dangerous, we think it’s too hurtful, but that’s actually the moment where we’re supposed to step inside the circle so that we can comfort each other and be there for each other and get stronger together, so that then we can step back into holding that circle tighter. So thank you for being in the circle with us, for broadening that circle, let it be always inclusive of every generation, every race, every gender, every culture, everybody. We have so much shared between us, and we focus way too much on what breaks us apart when we could be celebrating those differences for what it makes of our humanity, which is just the breath of us, the beauty of us.”
11 September 2021
Whom is fashion for? And whom is fashion by? Talk of color, silhouette, sustainability, and inspiration generally dominates the discussion about clothes, leaving the human aspect of fashion overlooked. Think about it: In three words the skilled artisans who craft couture,les petites mains,are rendered invisible save for their agile fingers.Studio 189’s collection film is all about celebrating the company’s employees, and making them feel seen. Shot in the studio in Ghana, the collection is shown in process and then presented to a front row of employees, one of whom, Lydia Mensah, shares her story. The video brings the viewer to Ghana, to the very room where the clothes are made, and it shows the impact of fashion apart from consumption and narrative. Rather, it speaks to the value of work and the interconnectedness of us all, and it does this with an overflowing helping of Studio 189’s signature—joy.The brand was founded in 2013 by Abrima Erwiah and Rosario Dawson after a trip to Congo. While there they visited the City of Joy, a leadership community for female survivors of sexual violence. This, says Erwiah, “was the beginning of this journey, and it’s about turning pain into power and turning ourselves toward our joy.” It seems that both she and Dawson see this emotion existing on a continuum that extends from the past through the present and into the future.Heritage is the theme explored in the latest collection. One of the ways it is expressed is through the use of Kente, the national cloth of Ghana that is associated with royalty and has tradition and symbols literally woven into it. This season’s direct references to African clothing and textile traditions make clear that this brand doesn’t cater to Western taste. “It’s about standing in your power,” says Erwiah, who adds that she’s noticed a change among consumers (and buyers), who are becoming less afraid of prints and patterns. These days, she says, people want “more human things, but also more joyful things, more colorful things,” and points to a long skirt with rainbow-colored tiers in the current collection as an example.One of Studio 189’s missions is to be a bridge between the United States and Africa. On Inauguration Day that span extended all the way to the White House: Rosario Dawson and Senator Cory Booker attended the ceremony wearing matching Studio 189 masks.
18 February 2021
Pharrell’s “Happy” could be the theme song of the spring 2020 season here in New York. Designers are responding to turmoil with bold statements of optimism. And they’re doing so collaboratively and theatrically, with music and dance performances in inventive venues that invite audiences to, as Pharrell did in his hit song, “clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do.” Fun and games are fine, up to a point. But sometimes we need to move beyond our individual feelings and act, whether alone or as part of a community. Today, fashion must not only look good, it should do good—or, at the very least, not do harm.Actor Rosario Dawson and fashion executive/Bottega Veneta alum Abrima Erwiah have been engaged with enacting change using fashion as their vehicle since founding Studio 189 in 2013. Their aim is to make great clothes and at the same time support women’s empowerment, preserve traditional crafts, and champion sustainability. The two are recent recipients of the CFDA Lexus Award for their work in that area.Circularity is important to Studio 189’s day-to-day operations; this season it was built into their show concept as well, which was Heritage. “We really wanted to go back and see where we all come from and highlight that we all have a shared history,” said Erwiah. “And then figure out how we can work together to think about the future.” The live musical performances and dance sequences were about looking back to move forward. The opening, said Erwiah, “was kind of like calling on our ancestors and giving thank you.” Many of the looks that followed were shown on pairs of models, which was another way to highlight the importance of connectedness. Dawson was feeling it; at one point she was standing in the aisle dancing and singing along. When was the last time you saw a designer do something like that at their own show? It was a joy to see.The clothes were similarly upbeat. There were many mixed prints, an explosion of glorious color, indigo dyes, embroideries, and patchwork. Ease is a keyword of Spring 2020, and Studio 189 achieved it in the liquid flow of wide-legged and high-waisted pants for men and women. It was also built into romantic ruffled dresses that were a welcome evolution from that Holly Hobbie look. These were maxi-length, with lovely sleeve details and full skirts that moved beautifully. It was easy to imagine how soft they would feel moving against one’s skin, whatever color that might be.
11 September 2019