All Photos By Gail

Designed by Marina Draghici for the lead actor of the Broadway musical Fela!, this custom-tailored garment evokes the unique style of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti (1938 — 1997), who often wore vibrant, embroidered two-piece costumes. The suit features intricately stitched renderings and stylized motifs from some of Fela’s signature looks.

Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, who later changed his name to Fela Kuti, was a Nigerian musician and activist who recorded more than 60 albums in his lifetime. Throughout his career, Fela used his music and voice as weapons to expose and fight against the rampant political corruption that plagued Nigeria.

As the creator of the Afrobeat music, a genre that incorporated elements of West African juju, fuji, and highlife music, as well as American jazz, soul, and funk, Fela would go on to inspire a new generation of musicians from around the world.

Photographed in the Brooklyn Museum