In a sunlit gallery inside the Hampton University Museum, history hangs from every seam.
Mannequins draped in garments inspired by centuries of fashion stand alongside costume renderings for Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Sketches trace silhouettes from the 1830s, 1880s, and 1940s. Every stitch, every line, every fabric choice tells a story.
For Xorlali Plange, a Ghanaian designer, garment constructor, researcher in material and visual studies, and faculty member in Hampton University’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts, clothing has always been a language.
Now in his eighth year in the fashion industry and fourth year as an educator, Plange has built a career translating culture through design. Along the way, he has dressed more than 1,400 Black women across the globe while mentoring a new generation of artists determined to leave their mark on fashion, theatre, film, and beyond.
“The more I teach, the more I know,” said Plange. “I learn more than I actually teach. Students ask questions. They think differently. They listen. I can tell eight students the same thing and get back eight different outcomes. Teaching influences my creative problem-solving abilities.”
For Plange, curiosity has been the thread connecting every stage of his journey.
“Curiosity has made me very successful in my career,” he said.
That curiosity led him toward costuming during his undergraduate years when he noticed a shortage of highly skilled costume designers in the industry and training. While fashion often focuses on creativity and trends, costuming demanded something deeper.
“Fashion is about creative inspiration and trends. Costuming is about the text and the study of character and their world,” he explained.
Growing up in Ghana gave him a unique advantage. In many Ghanaian communities, clothing communicates emotion, status, celebration, grief, and intention long before a person speaks.
“In Ghana, everything has meaning,” Plange said. “The fabric has a meaning. If you’re attending a funeral, the colors and patterns signal specific emotions. If you’re mourning, if you’re preparing for a difficult conversation, if someone has just had a baby, if someone is married or single, there are particular colors and garments associated with those moments.”
Those cultural lessons became the foundation of his design philosophy.
“When you’re making clothing for a character, you can portray their past, present, and future through costuming.”
That philosophy comes alive in his classroom.
Students in his design courses spend months immersed in script analysis, dramaturgy, character development, historical research, rendering, and garment construction. The work is rigorous. Two hours each week quickly become dozens of hours spent refining concepts and mastering techniques.
The exhibit currently on display at the Hampton University Museum showcases the results. The work of students Hannah Buckles, Alexis Coleman, Bria Alexander, Erin Connor, Amiya Conwell, Caleb Armstrong, and Alese Bullock stands as an ode to the skills they gained throughout the courses.
Some students entered the course having never touched a sewing machine. Others had never taken measurements or created original costume illustrations. By the semester’s end, they had developed complete designs and well-tailored, full-scale garments grounded in historical research and theatrical storytelling.
“The only way for others to take you seriously as a designer is for you to take yourself seriously,” Plange mentioned that he told his students.
And they did. Students arrived on time. They practiced. They learned unfamiliar techniques. They mastered tools that once intimidated them. They drew, measured, researched, constructed, revised, and persevered.
For graduating senior Alexis Coleman ‘27 of Washington, D.C., the experience opened a new creative world.
A technical theatre major with aspirations of becoming a lighting designer, Coleman enrolled in the course to expand her skill set.
“I did technical theatre in high school, and I always loved doing painting and all the backstage stuff,” said Coleman. “I took this course because I’d never done sewing before.”
The challenge pushed her beyond her comfort zone and gave her a deeper understanding of how every artistic discipline contributes to theatrical storytelling.
That interdisciplinary learning is exactly what Plange hopes to cultivate.
“The students we teach open our minds to things we wouldn’t think of in terms of running a studio,” he said.
His work extends beyond technical instruction. It is also a conversation about representation, ownership, and the future of global fashion.
“Fashion elements are going global,” said Plange. “But we also need to realize that a lot of Eurocentric trends and what we consider the best of fashion have been created from artistic reminiscent of underrepresented spaces.”
Today, however, social media is helping reshape that narrative.
“In 2026, we know the source of all those designs,” he said. “We can give credit to creators of African fashion elements and creatives all over the world.”
As technology transforms creative industries, Plange remains optimistic but cautious about the role of artificial intelligence.
“We have to go back to the basics of design,” he said. “AI is great for data analytics of fashion and surveys of consumption and taste. However, our work requires deliberate skill and process. The discipline is what makes the art and AI can rob the sanctity of design. We should use AI to make other aspects of our lives easier so that we have enough time and energy to create our craft and not the other way around.”
For Plange, design is not simply generating ideas.
“To design is to learn. It’s to understand people and the environments, it’s to engineer and solve problems. It’s to envision, engineer, and solve problems. It becomes art when you immerse yourself into humanity first. You don’t want to hand all of that to AI. This technology doesn’t override technique.”
His commitment to craft is one reason Hampton became the ideal home for his work.
After years spent mastering techniques ranging from hand-weaving fabrics and beadmaking to founding his first fashion training program in Ghana, Plange pursued graduate studies with a new goal: learning how to teach what he knew.
When graduation came, he knew exactly where he wanted to invest his knowledge.
“I wanted to share my skills with Black students from all walks of life,” he said.
He also recognized a significant gap. Historically Black colleges and universities have long produced influential artists, storytellers, and innovators, yet relatively few offer extensive pathways in costume design and garment construction.
Plange saw an opportunity to help change that.
Much of his work centers on Black women, a community he has spent years designing for and advocating alongside.
“The fashion industry has never truly designed for their bodies,” he said.
His mission is both artistic and practical: teaching Black women and men how to design for their own bodies while preserving skills that are disappearing from the industry.
Garment construction, tailoring, draping, patternmaking, and craftsmanship are increasingly rare in an era dominated by fast fashion.
“The industry is struggling to find talented garment constructors,” Plange said. “People are leaving the industry with these skills or dying with them, and those roles aren’t being replaced.”
He points to another cultural blind spot: the creative brilliance of Black girls during milestone moments such as prom season.
Too often, he argues, their fashion choices are misunderstood, criticized, or dismissed. Yet the elaborate designs, intricate embellishments, bold colors, and personal storytelling found in Black prom culture represent one of the most innovative spaces in American fashion.
For many young Black women, these garments mark important rites of passage and expressions of identity. They are declarations of joy, imagination, aspiration, and self-definition.
What some dismiss today, Plange believes, will become tomorrow’s runway trends.
By training a new generation of Black designers, he hopes to ensure that the creators behind those innovations receive the recognition they deserve. His vision aligns with Hampton’s growing influence in costume and production design, a legacy elevated by Academy Award-winning alumna Ruth E. Carter ‘82, whose groundbreaking work in films like Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, Black Panther, Sinners, and more has transformed the entertainment industry and opened doors for countless aspiring designers.
The timing could not be better.
Black costume designers are winning Oscars. Black creatives are earning Tony Awards. Black artists are shaping the visual language of film, television, theatre, and fashion at the highest levels.
The door is open.
The next generation simply needs the tools, training, and confidence to walk through it.
“Professor Plange represents the rare combination of artist, scholar, cultural historian, and mentor,” said Dr. Linda Malone-Colon, dean of Hampton University’s School of Liberal Arts and Education. “His commitment to preserving cultural narratives through design while preparing students for professional excellence reflects the very best of Hampton University’s mission. Through his teaching, students learn not only technical skills but also how to understand the human stories behind what we wear.”
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Dr. Caroline Kingori said Plange’s work demonstrates how scholarship and creativity can intersect to create meaningful educational experiences.
“Professor Plange challenges students to think critically, conduct rigorous research, and embrace innovation while remaining grounded in craftsmanship,” Kingori said. “His work exemplifies the transformative learning experiences that prepare Hampton students to become leaders in creative industries around the world.”
The exhibition has already become a point of pride for both the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Hampton University Museum, where visitors have been drawn to the sophistication and craftsmanship displayed throughout the gallery.
Co-curator and Hampton University Museum team member Mr. Boyd Smith believes the exhibit is only the beginning.
“This exhibit has so much potential to grow,” Smith said. “So many museum visitors are surprised by the student talent and what Hampton University has to offer.”
Walking through the gallery, visitors encounter more than historical garments and costume renderings. They witness the results of months of research, technical training, artistic experimentation, and creative perseverance. For many, the exhibition serves as an introduction to a discipline they may not have realized existed on Hampton’s campus.
Plange sees something more.
He sees evidence that a new generation is learning how to tell stories through cloth, color, silhouette, and craft.
He sees students discovering confidence.
He sees culture preserved.
And in every carefully placed stitch, he sees the future taking shape.
Stay tuned for more coming from this department throughout the school year as the arts at Hampton University undergoes a revival.
By Mahogany Waldon, Director of University Communications
About Hampton University
Hampton University is a prestigious Carnegie R2-designated research institution recognized for pioneering work in atmospheric science, cancer research, and cybersecurity. With an annual economic impact of $530 million across the Commonwealth of Virginia, Hampton remains a leading engine of innovation and workforce development.
Founded in 1868, Hampton serves a diverse community of scholars from 44 states and 32 territories. The university is committed to academic excellence, global citizenship, and preparing students to lead with purpose and integrity. Learn more at www.hamptonu.edu
