Born in Sepia

Born in Sepia is an immersive fashion experience and cultural installation at the intersection of fashion, memory, and Black cultural celebration, functioning as both a runway show and a living archive.

Inspired by the spirit of a “Black Girl Festival,” the experience honors Black trailblazers in fashion, beauty, and everyday style.

Garments act as vessels of memory, referencing domestic interiors, beauty rituals, and the aesthetics of “peacocking” within Black communities as expressions of identity, care, and celebration. Each model will be paired with a historical fashion trailblazer, creating a dialogue between past icons and contemporary Detroit style.

Beyond the runway, the experience expands into a multi-sensory environment featuring a storefront installation with merchandise, archival displays, and wearable works. Interactive activations will include a Black art library, temporary tattoo station, nail art, charm making, live portrait sessions, experimental video screenings, live painting, and a family photo archive-inspired photo booth.

The installation will also feature work from local artists and community creatives, alongside set design created by Grow Detroit Young Talent youth, providing hands-on experience in creative production and event design. With a curated soundscape, DJ set, and nostalgic concessions, Born in Sepia reimagines fashion as a space for memory, connection, and play.

This event is part of the IDeate Cultural Arts Festival, which brings together a series of interconnected public programs that highlight Detroit filmmakers, designers, musicians, and community artists through immersive, accessible events held across multiple days.

Programming includes a monthly film series featuring work by Detroit filmmakers. The Spiral Initiative, an arts-based youth program, transforms outdoor space into a living gallery, presenting site-responsive artworks that invite public interaction and engagement with land, memory, and environment.

Community activations expand the festival beyond traditional exhibition formats, including spoken word mic nights, mosaic making on the land, and dye workshops in newly obtained greenhouses. Select programming also includes micro grant opportunities to support local creative work.

UN SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

We use Detroit's UNESCO City of Design designation as a call to action for Detroiters to embrace the Sustainable Development Goals in their own communities, contributing to the active effort of solving global interconnected issues.