At the foot of a towering baobab tree outside Senegal’s capital Dakar on Saturday, cameras flashed in the waning dusklight as 20-year old Najeebah Samuel strode down the catwalk to zealous applause. Born with cerebral palsy, Samuel, 20, was the first of two dozen models of all shapes and sizes to take the runway at Dakar’s 19th annual Fashion Week event, held at the weekend with the dual themes of inclusiveness and sustainability.

At the foot of a towering baobab tree outside Senegal’s capital Dakar on Saturday, cameras flashed in the waning dusklight as 20-year old Najeebah Samuel strode down the catwalk to zealous applause.

Born with cerebral palsy, Samuel, 20, was the first of two dozen models of all shapes and sizes to take the runway at Dakar’s 19th annual Fashion Week event, held at the weekend with the dual themes of inclusiveness and sustainability. “I want to prove to other disabled kids that you’re not your disability – you’re just you,” Samuel said, wearing an orange and blue dress by Fashion Week founder Adama Ndiaye. “You have to come out and show people who you are.”

Featuring designers from across Africa, the Dakar Fashion Week is one of the continent’s longest-running fashion exhibitions. Forced outdoors to abide by COVID-19 restrictions last year, the organizers of this edition chose to return to the baobab forest to remind attendees of the fashion world’s responsibility to operate in a sustainable way.

Textile production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions annually, and if current rates continue, the industry could account for more than a quarter of global emissions by 2050, according to a 2015 study from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Known by her brand name Adama Paris, Ndiaye, who also created the first Black Fashion Week show in the French capital, routinely attaches progressive themes to Senegal’s marquee fashion event.

She sets high minimum quotas for female designers and once banned models using skin depigmentation cream to promote self-acceptance. She chose inclusiveness as one of this year’s themes to contrast the often rigid beauty standards of Western fashion. “I don’t want to live with fashion as the European diktat tells us to,” Ndiaye said. “I want women who represent so many different things, more than just bodies.”

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Content courtesy of Devdiscourse & NFH Digital Team

This year’s Black Friday saw many shoppers return to stores in person, but the social-justice group Black Allies for Our Advancement hosted an alternative event in Los Angeles’ Leimert Park neighborhood on November. 26 to encourage patronage of Black-owned businesses.

The event hosted California vendors who were organized on Degnan Boulevard with businesses such as Dekonchko Mullings’s Love Smells Good beauty and wellness goods, African beads by Zahra Import, and Wolofwear, which is West African clothing with a modern twist presented by Buna Diagne.

Originally from Senegal, Diagne’s wife, who is formerly of South Central Los Angeles, moved to the West African country where she now designs Wolofwear clothing and enlists the skill of local artists and tailors to manufacture pieces. Featuring African wax fabric, the pieces are colorful with silhouettes in dresses, jumpsuits, and skirts.

By selling the goods during the Leimert Park African market on Sundays from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and taking advantage of events such as BAFA’s Buy Black Bazaar, Diagne hopes to support the local community and the artists back in Senegal.

“We have people working for us. Our tailor was able to move his family into a better house in a better neighborhood,” Diagne said. “We are supporting at least 10 people back home. We are making sure we are supporting people back home in the motherland and we are making sure we are giving African Americans a way to express themselves through clothing.”

In addition to the vendors who were selling through temporary spaces, the permanent shops that lined the street such as Eso Won Books, Neighbors Skate Shop, and Sole Folks also welcomed the message that was being spread by the Buy Black Bazaar.

At Sole Folks, a cooperative that sells goods such as clothing, wellness items, and home pieces affords a place for Black creatives to cultivate their businesses and grow their entrepreneurial mindsets. In addition to the retail services, the location houses Kicks B Clean a sneaker, hat, and bag restoration business, a design lab where members of the cooperative create their work, and an art space across the street, which includes sewing classes.

“Because the area, Leimert Park is a very sacred and special place for the community, it really is called a ‘village,'” said Himyo Green, program director of Sole Folks and founder of the brand Humans Expressing Compassionate Action, which is also known as HECA.

“To be able to have a space and a place to amplify the wonderful cohesion and welcoming ness that we create in this village is paramount to be able to allow us to exist in a happy space and create environments that are welcoming inviting and uplifting.”

Content courtesy of Apparel In News 

Next week from December 15 to 17, Durban Fashion Fair (DFF) is hosting the 10th annual DFF fashion show at the Durban Exhibition Centre.

Reflecting on 10 years of growth in the local fashion industry, DFF will present 12 shows held over three days where established and emerging designers will be showcasing their talents under the theme ‘Reflections’.
eThekwini Mayor Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda says the ten-year mark is an important milestone to reflect on the achievements made over the past decade.

“Not only are we able to look back on the many achievements made over the past decade, but we can also celebrate the platforms that we have created for emerging designers.

“The DFF has and will continue to provide an important platform for talent and skills development. It has already played an important role in building the Durban fashion industry, which has helped us to grow the economy and create jobs,” he says.

Some of the DFF achievements include Mxolisi Luke Mkhize from House of Saint Luke, who has gone from his first showing as a DFF mentee to showcasing his designs in Africa. Meanwhile, Eli Ball from Made in Africa has wowed fashionistas on runways in Paris.
Again, this year, four DFF mentees became the first-ever South African designers to team up with Mr. Price Sport to design Team SA’s opening ceremony outfits for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Content courtesy of IOL 

For five days the capital of Niger vibrated in glamour and beauty as the International Festival of African Fashion, FIMA, held its 13th edition, about fifty top models and thirty fashion designers showcased clothes, accessories, and jewelry from all over Africa.

Alphadi, the founder of FIMA has always given a very important place to young people in the fashion industry, founded in 1998, almost half of the program of this event is dedicated to young African talent.

Dozens of designers took part in the young designers’ competition, Sun Alejandro, a Rwandan designer based in Gabon, was inspired by the diversity of the Bantu culture – the population of Central and Southern Africa.

“This collection is a little bit of tribal code because I love Bantu culture which I find very rich. That’s why we find panther prints on most of these clothes which is an animal very representative of Gabonese culture and which symbolizes strength”, said designer Sun Alejandro.

The Top Model contest is always eagerly awaited by the public, about twenty young men and women participated in the contest, the event represented an opportunity for beginners like Erudie Deberry from Benin who amazed the public.

“Winning to honor my country, I am also very proud, winning to go to other countries and travel, winning to further develop my career, winning for me first and also for my country, that’s it”, she said.

The public of Niger, a predominantly Muslim country, is very tolerant of other African cultures where the female body is widely shown.

The designers of Niger however remain very attached to the culture of Islam like sisters Adama and Aicha Seyni Seydou, creators of the brand Mam’Mode.

“The female body is something very precious, it’s a treasure in fact. Through our clothes, we try to highlight this body and at the same time respect the local culture”, explained the sisters.

FIMA will come back to Niger in full splendor as usual in 2 years.

Content courtesy of African News  & NFH Digital Team 

Ambassador and Infiltrator

Virgil Ablo, The founder of the fashion company Off-White and menswear artistic director at Louis Vuitton died on Sunday following a private, two-year battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare, aggressive form of cancer. He was 41.

Abloh’s death was first announced by his labels over social media.

“We are all shocked after this terrible news. Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom,” wrote LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault. “The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow, and we are all thinking of his loved ones after the passing of their husband, their father, their brother, or their friend.”

“We are devastated to announce the passing of our beloved Virgil Abloh, a fiercely devoted father, husband, son, brother, and friend,” reads a statement on Abloh’s official Instagram.

According to the statement, Abloh elected to keep his cancer private after being diagnosed in 2019, undergoing treatments while continuing to work as one of the fashion industry’s leading voices.

“Virgil was driven by his dedication to his craft and to his mission to open doors for others and create pathways for greater equality in art and design. He often said, ‘Everything I do is for the 17-year-old version of myself,’ believing deeply in the power of art to inspire future generations.”

Born to Ghanaian immigrant parents on Sept. 30, 1980, in Rockford, Ill., Abloh studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 2002. He went on to earn a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2006.

Following his education, Abloh met Kanye West, who would become one of his first major collaborators. In 2011, West named Abloh creative director of his company Donda. During his tenure, Abloh worked as artistic director on some of the most popular album art of the 21st century, including West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” “Yeezus” and “Watch the Throne.” Abloh also created the covers for A$AP Rocky’s “LONG. LIVE. A$AP,” Lil Uzi Vert’s “Luv Is Rage 2,” Kid Cudi’s “Wzrd,” 2 Chainz’s “Based on a T.R.U. Story” and more.

Abloh founded the fashion house Off-White in 2012, serving as CEO until his death. His radical approach to clothing is highly responsible for the bridge between the worlds of streetwear and luxury fashion that has emerged over the past decade. Off-White launched Abloh to an even more prominent position on the global stage, attracting the attention of Louis Vuitton. The storied fashion house signed Abloh to serve as its menswear artistic director in 2018, a role he fulfilled through the remainder of his life. Abloh is the first African-American to head the house’s menswear line.

“The first thing I am going to do is define new codes,” Abloh told The New York Times following his appointment in 2018. “My muse has always been what people actually wear, and I am really excited to make a luxury version of that.”

Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton bought a majority stake in Off-White last year. In July, Abloh took on a position at LVMH that allowed him to work across the group’s 75 brands, becoming the most powerful Black executive in the history of the premier luxury group.

Beyond fashion, Abloh was also well-known for his work as a DJ and furniture designer. He is survived by his wife Shannon Abloh, his children Lowe and Grey, his sister Edwina Abloh, his parents Nee and Eunice Abloh, and numerous friends and colleagues around the world.

Content courtesy of Variety & Nairobi Fashion Hub Digital Team