Illustration by Megan Tatem. Image courtesy of artist.
In this feature for Ssense, Melvin Backman chronicles Shelby Ivey Christie’s work to document the history of Black people in fashion through Twitter. Christie has created a substantial following on the social media platform, tweeting thread after thread about how Black people have influenced the fashion industry. Christie spoke with Backman to discuss how she got interested in the field, how she came to create her foothold, and what may come next after she finishes her degree in costume studies from New York University.
“There’s so many things that need to change. The system can only be as good as its pieces, as its mechanics. And if the mechanics are white, it’s innately flawed . . . The industry is just like any other system that we’re combating now. Again, it’s not our place to spin our wheels. The whites need to gather themselves and figure out what the go-forward is. The whiteness of it makes it flawed. As long as that’s present, it’s a huge question mark.” - Shelby Ivey Christie
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