{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1813880"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1813880/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1813880","accessionNumber":"T.30-2026","objectType":"Ensemble","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Awa Meité is a stylist, filmmaker, and fashion and textile designer based in Bamako, Mali. In 2007 she founded the Daoula initiative with the aim of boosting Malian cotton production and advancing cotton-related innovations. As part of the initiative, Meité launched the Daoulaba Festival, an annual celebration of Malian cotton and the skill of those working in the country’s cotton industry. Mali is the largest cotton producer on the African continent, but less than 5% of the cotton grown in Mali is processed there. Meité seeks to reverse this trend through activism and her eponymous fashion brand, Awa Meité. Launched in 2014, the brand aims to expand consumer knowledge of Malian cotton within global markets and to support local processing from field to loom. Awa Meité garments are produced entirely within Mali, in close collaboration with local artisans, weavers and seamstresses, meaning jobs and valuable sources of income for local communities are retained and specialist knowledge is preserved.\n\r\nMeité’s designs highlight the unique qualities of cotton. Her silhouettes are typically loose and multi-layered, centring the textile through colourful woven and textural effects such as fringing, tufting and raw edges. This ensemble was presented as part of Awa Meité's Spring-Summer 2025 collection, first shown at Lagos Fashion Week in October 2024. Presented as a menswear look comprising trousers, shirt, coat and leather sandals, the ensemble displays Meité’s characteristic relaxed cut with tonal colour blocking drawing attention to the various handwoven techniques employed. Further visual interest is added to the coat by means of pleating at the shoulder and embroidery. Meité’s mother was close friends with late Malian fashion designer Chris Seydou (1949-1994), and Meité credits his work as an inspiration for her own, particularly his incorporation of traditional textile techniques within contemporary styles. Here, the embroidery is inspired by embroidered motifs associated with the Djenne region of Mali, and its placement evokes the region’s centuries-long history of embroidering the yokes and necklines of tunics. \n\r\nMeité’s fashion collections form part of her broader Daoulaba initiative, an important tenet of which is ‘Craft for Peace.’ To produce this collection in the spirit of Craft for Peace, Meité worked with people who have fled or survived terrorist activities within Mali. \r\n\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Awa Meité","id":"AUTH361854"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25198"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Awa Meité","id":"AUTH361823"},"association":{"text":"brand","id":"x30588"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Cotton","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"embroidery","id":"x40351"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"cotton, embroidery ","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES48960"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES404275"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES404275"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES404275"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES404275"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES404275"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Shirt","id":"AAT212499"}],[{"text":"Trousers","id":"AAT209935"}],[{"text":"Coat","id":"AAT46143"}],[{"text":"Shoe","id":"AAT46065"}],[{"text":"Shoe","id":"AAT46065"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Bamako","id":"x34940"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Mali","id":"x36975"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2024","earliest":"2024-01-01","latest":"2024-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":"debuted during Lagos Fashion Week 2024, held in October 2024 "},{"date":{"text":"2025-2026","earliest":"2025-01-01","latest":"2026-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Made to order in late 2025, early 2026 "}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","value":"620","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"shirt - 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