In her monumental solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Amy Sherald doesn’t just capture Black life—she styles it. Her portraits are known for their dignified stillness and signature gray skin tones, but in this collection, fashion emerges as a language of intimacy, interiority, and quiet rebellion.
Every brushstroke tells a story, and the wardrobe of Sherald’s subjects plays a central role. Carefully chosen garments—ranging from retro swimsuits to bold-patterned suits, tailored coats, and whimsical separates—serve not only as aesthetic choices but as symbols of personal narrative and cultural lineage. These are not just clothes; they are markers of individuality, history, and interior life.
Sherald’s fashion-forward eye blends high art with cultural reference. The clothes evoke decades of Black expression—from church hats and ‘70s denim to contemporary streetwear silhouettes—while also resisting the external gaze. Her subjects are not styled for spectacle. They are styled for themselves.
In works like A single man in possession of a good fortune, the subject wears a softly structured salmon suit with ease and quiet authority. In If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it, a woman stands poised in a mustard yellow one-piece, conjuring both 1960s glamour and modern vulnerability. These outfits anchor the figures in time while transcending it, echoing a long history of Black sartorial excellence and resourcefulness.
Sherald’s fashion choices also challenge the historical absence of Black subjects in portraiture and style narratives. By placing her figures in striking, contemporary clothing—and framing them with elegance and grace—she rewrites the rules of how Blackness is seen, stylized, and celebrated in fine art spaces.
More than fashion statements, the garments in Sherald’s paintings offer portals into emotional landscapes. Through soft fabrics and sharp tailoring, she conveys joy, contemplation, pride, and memory. Each look becomes a meditation on presence—of being seen not only as beautiful but as whole.
In a cultural moment where fashion often leans loud, Sherald’s portraits whisper. And yet, they resonate deeply—showing that the clothes we wear can speak volumes about who we are and the worlds we carry within.
