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London’s Design Museum opened The Nue Black Aesthetic on 6 November, bringing together more than 100 objects by 16 Black designers across fashion, furniture, architecture and other fields. Guest-curated by Charlene Prempeh, the exhibition examines varied approaches to identity, community and design systems; it is scheduled to run through 8 August 2027.
London’s Design Museum opened The Nue Black Aesthetic on 6 November, presenting more than 100 objects by 16 Black designers across fashion, furniture, architecture, product design and sculpture. Guest-curated by author and journalist Charlene Prempeh, the exhibition asks what it means to be a Black designer working today and puts a range of practices on view rather than treating Black design as a single style.
The exhibition is arranged across six sections, combining historical material, individual works, a film and a new commission. Its opening section, “Towards a Nue Black Aesthetic,” sets out seven decades of Black design through work and graphics by more than 20 designers, including textile designer Althea McNish and contemporary designer Yinka Ilori. The remaining rooms consider identity, community and challenges to established design norms.
Among the featured objects are a Bianca Saunders suit designed for Usher at the 2023 Met Gala and furniture by Nigerian British artist Taiba Akhuetie made using synthetic hair. The community-focused section includes LABRUM’s high-fashion interpretation of Arsenal’s 2024/25 away kit, designed with adidas. Architect Giles Tettey Nartey contributes a contemporary balafon, a West African xylophone, while the exhibition closes with “Mfon,” a new work by Nigerian American designer Ini Archibong, made from ceramic, wood, brass and Murano glass.
The 16 featured designers are Tejumola Adenuga, Taiba Akhuetie, Ini Archibong, Simone Brewster, Mac Collins, Phoebe Collings-James, Foday Dumbuya, Feben, Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Andu Masebo, Saul Nash, Tosin Oshinowo, Bianca Saunders, Rachel Scott, Samuel Ross and Giles Tettey Nartey. The penultimate room screens Black by Design, a new film by Samona Olanipekun featuring interviews and studio visits with the participating designers.
A Wider View of Black Design
The exhibition brings together work spanning disciplines that are often presented separately, giving visitors a chance to compare how designers address identity, cultural references and belonging through different materials and practices. Its six-part structure also connects contemporary work to earlier design histories, rather than presenting today’s practitioners without a lineage.
That framing matters because the show explicitly challenges the idea that Black designers share one aesthetic. Its objects range from fashion and sportswear to furniture, architecture and a musical instrument. The exhibition therefore treats Black design as a field of distinct creative approaches, while asking how designers work within systems and institutions shaped by predominantly white standards.
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From Earlier Aesthetics to Today
The title draws on two earlier ideas: the Black Aesthetic of the 1960s, associated with writer Larry Neal, and the “New Black Aesthetic,” named by novelist Trey Ellis in a 1989 essay for the journal Callaloo. The exhibition’s use of “Nue” refers to the Middle French word “nuer,” meaning to make shades of colour. Prempeh uses the term to signal nuance and variety, not a single definition of Black design.
The historical opening section places the contemporary designers alongside work from the preceding seven decades. That history includes Althea McNish, a pioneering textile designer, and later figures such as Yinka Ilori. The exhibition’s examples then make the links more specific: Akhuetie’s furniture draws on experiences of Black hair and communal hairstyling, while LABRUM’s football kit uses a black, red and green palette associated with Pan-Africanism.
“The idea that Black design is not monolithic should not be surprising or controversial and yet there has historically been very little interrogation about the complexities and inspiration of contemporary Black designers or about how the specific experience of creating in a predominantly white space influences their practice.”
— Charlene Prempeh, guest curator
Questions Beyond the Exhibition
The supplied information describes the exhibition’s contents and scheduled dates but does not give visitor numbers, ticket prices, admission arrangements or details of accompanying public events. It also does not state how the museum will evaluate the show’s reach or its effect on the design industry. The exhibition presents a survey of selected practitioners; the available material does not claim that its 16 designers represent every strand of contemporary Black design.
On View Through August 2027
The Nue Black Aesthetic is scheduled to remain at the Design Museum until 8 August 2027. Visitors can see the six sections, the film Black by Design and Archibong’s closing commission during the run. The source material does not specify whether the museum plans related talks, events or changes to the exhibition, so those details remain unconfirmed.
Key Questions
What is The Nue Black Aesthetic?
It is a Design Museum exhibition surveying the work of 16 contemporary Black designers through more than 100 objects across fields including fashion, furniture, architecture, product design and sculpture.
Who curated the exhibition?
Author and journalist Charlene Prempeh is the guest curator. Tiya Dahyabhai is identified as the project curator.
What works are included?
Examples include a Bianca Saunders suit created for Usher’s 2023 Met Gala appearance, Taiba Akhuetie’s synthetic-hair furniture, LABRUM’s Arsenal away-kit design, Giles Tettey Nartey’s contemporary balafon and a new commission by Ini Archibong.
How long is the exhibition open?
The exhibition opened on 6 November 2026 and is scheduled to close on 8 August 2027.
Source: hypebeast.com
