For the final month of its storied run, the Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition “King Pleasure” has commissioned fashion capsules from 9 Black designers.
Vittoria Benzine,
“King Pleasure,” a sprawling exhibition at Chelsea’s Starrett-Lehigh building that centers Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life through rare artifacts from his estate, has welcomed over 160,000 visitors since opening in April.
The show is the first organized by Basquiat’s sisters Jeanine Heriveaux and Lisane Basquiat. It features re-creations of the artist’s childhood home and his storied studio apartment—and, as of December 7, a ready-to-wear apparel and accessories collection interpreting the artist’s work, designed by nine fashion talents for the show’s Those Who Dress Better program in partnership with Black Fashion Fair.
Fresh twists across the limited-run capsule collection are on view in “King Pleasure” through December 15, with more accessible designs available for sale in the adjacent “King Pleasure” Emporium and on Black Fashion Fair’s website.
Hanifa for the Those Who Dress Better program. Courtesy of “King Pleasure.”
“The driving inspiration behind the Those Who Dress Better program was the estate’s desire to support these nine emerging fashion designers, artists, designers, and entrepreneurs,” Programming Director Anthony Konigbagbe told Artnet News. “Fashion was very important to Jean-Michel.”
Black Fashion Fair worked with the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat to curate New York-based Black designers on the rise: Theophilo, Brandon Blackwood, Hanifa, Who Decides War, Johnny Nelson, Bed on Water, Advisry, Homage Year, and Head of State. When “King Pleasure” opened, each designer was invited to explore the exhibition, to get inspired by Basquiat’s persona, and select which artworks to interpret.
Bed On Water, an interdisciplinary art house that also specializes in graphic design, photography, and art, envisioned the artist’s harsh lines as soft dresses, sometimes with billowing folds. Lauded by the CFDA and Beyoncé alike, Hanifa made the artist’s timeless ‘Ideal’ logo look even newer, in a slinky yet sunny yellow bodysuit that melts into gentle tangles of thick yarn. The label Johnny Nelson contorted metal and stones into rings, echoing Basquiat’s crown motif.
Shanel Campbell from Bed On Water for the Those Who Dress Better program. Courtesy of “King Pleasure.”
What would the artist himself wear? Konigbagbe pointed to pieces by Keith Herron’s brand Advisry, including a mask, a layered and printed “King Pleasure” long-sleeve jersey, and printed jeans featuring Charles The First (1982), considering them “worthy of Jean-Michel’s own personal style.”
“The jersey is a nod to Jean-Michel’s famously worn Wesleyan lacrosse practice jersey from his 1981 Art/new york interview with Marc H. Miller,” Konigbagbe wrote.
A December 7 reception celebrated the designers’ one-week stint in “King Pleasure.” The entire exhibition will complete its run on January 1, 2023.
Share
By Christine Ajudua
By Jo Lawson-Tancred
By William Van Meter
By Artnet News
©2022 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. All Rights Reserved. ';
$('body').append(ouibounceScript);
// Add animation css
addCss('https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/animate.css/3.5.2/animate.min.css');
if (generalSettings.loadFontAwesome) {
addCss('https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css');
}
// Check if ouibounce exist before calling ouibounce
var initOuibounce = setInterval(function() {
if (typeof ouibounce !== 'undefined') {
appendNewsletterSignup();
var $modal = $('#ouibounce-modal');
SignupForm.init($modal.find('form'), function onSuccess() {
//hide form fields and show thank-you message
$modal.find('.form-row').hide();
$modal.find('.newsletter-signup-thank-you').fadeIn('fast');
setNewsletterCookie('signedUp', 1);
//after successful signup, hide the signup bar after 5 seconds
setTimeout(function() {
closeSignupBar();
}, 5000);
});
// Handler for close signup button
$('body').on( 'click', '.close-signup', function(){
setNewsletterCookie('closedSignupBar', 1);
closeSignupBar();
});
ouibounceAPIaccess = ouibounce(
$modal[0], {
aggressive: true,
sensitivity: 50,
callback: function() {
slideInModal('Down');
}
}
);
clearInterval(initOuibounce);
}
}, 100);
}
function slideInModal(upOrDown) {
$('#ouibounce-modal')
.removeClass('slideOutDown slideOutUp')
.addClass( 'slideIn' + upOrDown );
setNewsletterCookie('recentlyShown', 1);
}
function setNewsletterCookie(cookieName, value) {
//exdays*24*60*60
var settings = cookieSettings[cookieName];
var expirationMinutes = settings.expiration_minutes;
if (!expirationMinutes) {
expirationMinutes = daysToMinutes(settings.expiration_days);
}
setCookie(cookieName, value, expirationMinutes);
}
function daysToMinutes(numDays) {
return numDays * 24 * 60;
}
/**
* Generic setCookie() method, used by setNewsletterCookie().
* There is probably no need to call this directly - use setNewsletterCookie().
*/
function setCookie(cname, cvalue, expMinutes, prefix) {
//default prefix is 'artnet_newsletter_'
if (prefix == undefined) {
prefix = 'artnet_newsletter_';
}
var d = new Date();
d.setTime(d.getTime() + (expMinutes*60*1000));
var expires = "expires="+d.toUTCString();
//console.log(prefix + cname + "=" + cvalue + ";" + expires + ";path=/");
document.cookie = prefix + cname + "=" + cvalue + ";" + expires + ";path=/";
}
function getCookie(cname, prefix) {
//default prefix is 'artnet_newsletter_'
if (prefix == undefined) {
prefix = 'artnet_newsletter_';
}
var name = prefix + cname + "=";
var ca = document.cookie.split(';');
for(var i = 0; i
You are currently logged into this Artnet News Pro account on another device. Please log off from any other devices, and then reload this page continue. To find out if you are eligible for an Artnet News Pro group subscription, please contact [email protected]. Standard subscriptions can be purchased on the subscription page.
Log In