Global Street Style Comes to Life in 'Fashion Tribes'

The phenomenon of globalized style in a portrait book.

October 12, 2015, 6:00pm

All images courtesy of Abrams Books.

From heavy metal rockers in Botswana, to female wrestlers in Bolivia, Fashion Tribes: Global Street Style, a portrait book by photographer Daniele Tamagni documents the beauty of subcultures around the world.

“This book is a mix of spontaneous situations…In choosing countries and cities far outside the usual context of fashion, I not only wanted to offer an overview of the phenomenon of globalized style, but also to record the resistance to and preservation of traditions,” says Tamagni.

Tamagni is an Italian photographer based in Milan. He has spent the last few years documenting African communities worldwide. In 2007 he won the Canon Young Photographer Award with a project about the Congolese dandies, Sapeurs of Brazzaville. Then in 2011 he won the World Press Photo in Arts & Entertainment for his flying cholitas' in La Paz, Bolivia as part of a wider project about women under the government of Evo Morales.

The Fashion Tribes book is a culmination of Tamagni’s work over time and features seven subcultures with essays by fashion journalists, sociologists, and art scholars. Exploring the tribes individual styles and trends like dandies in the Congo and punks in Burma through 175 colorful portraits.

Published by Abrams, the book starts with a preface written by actress Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah, co-founders of Ghana-based clothing label Studio One Eighty Nine. They explain: “Fashion Tribes reveals local consumers well versed in mixing traditional garments with modern fashions and internationally recognized designer labels.”