Does Burberry's Iconic Plaid Have Ties To The African Disaspora?

A quick search on the history of plaid brings us to this PS Magazine article, deeply rooted in British history and especially Scotland.  One look at the styling in this high-impact image of Burberry's iconic plaid featured now at Interview Magazine online takes us to a more familiar story, a GlamTribale journey older than Scotland, one that begins in Africa. Models Elizabeth Ayodele, Sarah Abney and Ana Pau signal "a revival of '90s cool ~ with a colorful, ultra-modern twist." 

Progress! We move on to CIAD, the Costume Institute of the African Diaspora, with a UK web addy. CIAD's mission "is to be the main port of call for information regarding costumes, fashion history, textiles and textiles construction from around the African Diaspora and in so doing create a bridge between cultural organisations worldwide."

There's nothing more important to GlamTribal than the stories of human history and humanity's deep connections to Africa. It makes no sense to me that the British Empire invented plaids. The true story must lie in the reality of the African Diaspora, and further investigation is required.

One of our featherweight GlamTribal decoupage beads uses an African tile pattern. Both necklace and earring sets shown here also feature woolly mammoth decoupage beads and woolly mammoth bone beads 10,000-100,000 years old.  Like the so-called Scottish plaid found on a long-buried, 3.000 year-old Caucasian Cherchen Man in China in 1978, these woolly mammoth bone beads are most-likely from Siberia. Both discoveries are a long way from the African continent; yet scientists believe they have deep roots in Africa.

This is our story of human history, and GlamTribal is sticking to it, until science makes paradigm-changing discoveries about our journey to now. 

Our shared cultural history is a fusion stew of borrowing, blending and sometimes outright stealing the creativity and beauty created by others.  This historical truth is lodged in immense pain, suffering and outright domination of some people for the success and privilege of others. We cannot rewrite that history -- the journey to now --but we can connect the record.

Equally important, we can acknowledge and also honor the birth of  humanity and human civilization in Africa. It's our shared DNA, and white nationalists -- reinforced by cultural and religious institutions -- can try to rewrite truth, but the scientific record is clear. GlamTribal is sticking to this story, too.  ~ Anne

Eye| Nicolo & Carlotta Oddi Show Alanui's S/S 2018 Collection | GlamTribal Woolly Mammoth Jewelry

Nicolo & Carlotta Oddi Show Alanui's Spring/Summer Collection At Pitti Uomo

Carlotta Oddi cut her design chops as a styling assistant to Anna Dello Russo at Vogue Japan, although her design aesthetic couldn't be more different than Russo's. Oddi describes herself as a true bohemian at heart, describing her own design aesthetic as 'chameleonic/eclectic'. in general, a crossover brew of different world inspirations."

Brother Nicolò Oddi developed the knitwear brand under the name Alanui, which translates to 'large path' in Hawaiian. 

Alanui has started its journey as a brand with a collection that focuses on a single item, produced in a variety of patterns: a buttonless oversized jacquard cashmere cardigan, edged with a dense fringe and closed with a two-tone belt. That’s it: an adaptable piece with no immediate gender connotation and no season. The colorful jacquards pay homage to the Indian America iconography, but this is just the beginning of a path that can lead in many different directions.

GlamTribal Design Jewelry & Gifts is inspired by the migration of humanity and animals out of Africa. In our pursuit of elephant conservation and news around the perils of elephant conservation in the modern world, we met mammoths, and woolly mammoths in particular. 

Elephants no longer live in the American Southwest or in the south of France, near the caves of Lascaux. They live in Africa, imperiled by the insatiable greed of humans in pursuit of ivory.

In the last two years, woolly mammoths have emerged as a strong design influence for GlamTribal, unifying collections like Alanui's American Southwest, native people's inspiration with tribal heritages in Africa. We regularly use their bone beads and our featherweight decoupage wooden beads with woolly mammoth imagery in our jewelry designs. 

When we began our woolly mammoth journey, the tie supported concerns about elephant extinction and also the religious disputes around creationism and human evolution. I've spoken with customers at high-quality artisan shows who told me that it was impossible that the woolly mammoth bones were 10,000-100,000 years old because God made the world much more recently. 

I do not have the patience for these conversations and generally end them quickly. A recent discovery near a highway in San Diego -- the bones and teeth of a mastodon dated at 130,000 years -- is rewriting our scientific understanding of when humans first reached North America. 

We delight, however, in the emergence of the woolly mammoth -- and mammoths generally -- as a unifying element in linking our human evolution heritage globally, leaving no doubt that GlamTribal's woolly mammoth jewelry looks simply fabulous with the gorgeous, over-sized sweaters from Alanui's spring/summer 2018 collection. 

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GlamTribal Design Woolly Mammoth Necklace and Pendant + Earrings Sets