Monday 26th of October 2026

Nairobi, Kenya

Tag: Fashion

A letter to the fashion industry: what you need to do to go beyond performative allyship

Posted on by Fashion Police

Model and activist Ashley Chew pens a public letter urging the industry to do better

She has graced countless magazine covers, posters, merchandise and even face masks. Her smile was always accompanied by short face-framing curls or deep polished waves. Headlines across the world ran images of the 26-year old African-American woman. Her name was Breonna Taylor.

In early summer 2020, our Instagram newsfeeds were flooded with black squares, captioned with statements such as “we stand with you” or “we love diversity”. Some companies embarrassingly posted nothing at all. The murder of George Floyd reached the fashion industry in the most complex of ways. It seemed trivial for us to post our new haircuts, DIY at-home spa treatments or sponsored content. I cringed at so many tone-deaf companies and even unfollowed their accounts.

Performative activism contributes to the problem, and what I mean by that is sharing an Instagram post about the importance of racial equality without diversifying staff, castings and content. It means nothing to talk the talk unless you are prepared to do the work, to act and do better. For two weeks straight I scrolled past black squares. After a while, I didn’t even care about them anymore. I wanted to know what was going to happen within you, the industry, afterwards, how you would go beyond Instagram statements and implement meaningful change.

In 2015, I started the #BlackModelsMatter movement. The hashtag is currently trending at 83,000 on Instagram. At the time, New York Fashion Week catwalks featured less than 10 per cent models of colour. In 2019, there was at least one model of colour in every single runway show and diversity now stands at 43 per cent.

Beyond the hashtag, I worked vigorously for the phrase not to become trendy – the fight for better Black representation in fashion is not a trend. I’ve spoken for The New York Times, Columbia University, The Indianapolis Museum of Art, magazine panels and even an event in Lagos, Nigeria. I served on The Model Alliance Advisory Board and have sat in with The Humans Of Fashion Foundation. I have poked microphones directly in designers’ faces backstage at Fashion Week asking what more can be done.

” Performative activism contributes to the problem ”

Performative activism does not go to these lengths. Performative activism posts a graphic online, and goes about their Zoom meetings while their African-American colleagues are on the receiving end heartbroken. Performative activism says, “we value diversity”, yet allows racism to manifest itself within meetings, editing, casting rooms, and on set. Allyship is not confined to a Black square on social media. Allyship requires honesty, responsibility and accountability.

As a working African-American model and visual artist, I have been well-equipped for racism; I have the choice about who I choose to champion. During New York Fashion Week, I don’t attend shows that do not cast Black models. On social media, I do not follow brands that don’t reflect society.

Your attention is your highest currency. Brands like Telfar, Fenty, Aerie, Pacifica, Christian Siriano, and Pyer Moss have my full support. These brands undoubtedly have shown diversity in race, age, gender and body positivity long before Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement. If every company took similar initiatives, some rooms in the industry wouldn’t be so unbearable, unwelcoming, and uncomfortable.

” What good is using Black culture if Black people aren’t allowed in the room? ”

I still have hope for the future of fashion, but there must be accountability. As a society we are so pressured into making the next thing, buying more things, and being the next big thing. It is essential for us to care about the people that contribute to those exact things. “Never let them convince you that broken glass or property is violence,” said Marc Jacobs in response to the damage done to his Soho location in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests. “Property can be replaced, human lives cannot.”

I am relieved that activism is not taboo anymore. Activism can happen anytime, anywhere by anyone. Five years ago, I was a liability. People in this industry were afraid to exercise their freedom of speech in fear of being blacklisted or even fired. But what you, the fashion world, needs to know is this: caring about people shouldn’t be a liability. What good is using Black culture if Black people aren’t allowed in the room? There is no one better to tell Black stories than Black people. Black editors matter, Black designers matter, Black directors matter, Black models matter, Black creatives matter, Black lives matter.

This article originally appeared on Harpers Bazaar

Content courtesy of Harpers Bazaar & Nairobi fashion hub 

La Sape : Evolution of a Sartorial Style

Posted on by Fashion Police

La Sape, short for “Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes” (Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People) began as a “transaction” between the Belgium-French colonialists at the beginning of the 20th century where Congolese slaves worked for second-hand suits.

Off the clock, Congolese men began to dress like “French gentlemen” admired by their fellow countrymen and characterised by colourful, sometimes over-the-top haute couture, luxury loafers, accessories like bowler hats, canes, and sunglasses, and a cool, slick walk that oozed charisma, energy and joy.

They became known as sapeurs (sapeuses for women) and were class and elegance personified. At the time, La Sape was a social commentary on taking control of their – once thought to be colonised – destinies. Sapeurs used this movement as an escape from their misery, which became inspiring and uplifting not only to the sapeurs themselves, but also to their respective communities.

La Sape only developed legs as a “fashion movement” in the 1970s when now notable names in the movement, including Stervos Niarcos; the former president of the DRC Joseph Mobutu; and legendary musician and style icon Papa Wemba influenced the development of the movement. Papa Wemba especially made La Sape very popular through his music in the Congo, Europe and many African countries.

Most Congolese dandies or sapeurs come from middle-class or sometimes very poor families and have ordinary day jobs as policemen, taxi-drivers, tailors and gardeners, but by night, a sapeur can look like a millionaire.

Over the last four decades La Sape has spread to other corners of the African continent and beyond, and relatively recently includes women and children, evolving a once curious sartorial subculture exclusive to men in the heart of Africa, into a way of life.

Photojournalist Tariq Zaidi has captured this in his latest photo essay, “SAPEURS: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congo”.

In 2017 Zaidi began photographing and documenting les sapeurs of the streets of the Congos’ two capital cities, Kinshasa and Brazzaville. The series is part of a larger body of work, to be published at the end of September 2020, about people who are part of La Sape in the Congo and how the fashion subculture has evolved.

Dilens Dilenga, a 75-year-old Congolese musician and original sapeur from Mbuji-Mayi in DRC, has been a sapeur for more than 50 years. Dilenga likes to dress in white and navy-blue suits from Turkey and says that a sapeur will always be defined as “a star of highest nobility who everyone looks at with admiration”.

However, Dilenga adds that the way sapeurs dress today is not the same way sapeurs dressed 50 years ago when his journey as a sapeur began. Everything from silhouettes, cuts, colours and labels has changed.

“There have been changes and there must be changes. A sapeur always tries to remain relevant and attract people with the way he looks, walks and speaks and adapts to the social and political conditions of the times, places and trends within which he lives,” says Dilenga.

It is perhaps for this reason that the movement still resonates with, and inspires so many people today – particularly the younger generations like 21-year-old student Dorcas Mutombo from Mbuji-Mayi.

Mutombo is completing her third year in fashion at the Elizabeth Galloway Academy of Fashion Design in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. Her final research project, “La Sape: Congolese Dandy”, is a “self-expressive” fashion range inspired by the elegant men she watched sashay down the streets wrapped in Armani suits and dripping in Cartier jewellery as a child.

“They were always doing something cool, appreciating themselves and doing the ‘slick’ walk. As I got a little older, I learnt that these men were called ‘sapeurs’ and they are always the centre of attention. They are admired by everyone who sees them so it made sense to me to write about La Sape and interpret my thesis into visually beautiful, meaningful and culturally sustainable colourful garments. La Sape has inspired my range, but I also wanted to tell the story, my story, as a Congolese girl in South Africa.”

It’s worth noting, however, the excessive and often financially crippling spending which can turn sapeurs into slaves of fashion. Traditionally, sapeurs from the Congo would wear expensive haute couture brands from Europe, like Kenzo, Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Givenchy and JM Weston for shoes.

In a symbolic defiance of his socioeconomic circumstances, Severin Muengo from Brazzaville, also known as “The Badass of La Sape”, is a middle-class man who boasts a rich collection of bags and accessories to go with his looks. He was interviewed by Mutombo as part of her thesis and explained that he takes out bank loans when he is unable to afford clothes to keep up appearances/lifestyle. Muengo estimates he has borrowed more than US$23,100 (from the bank to buy clothes.

While designer labels might have been important for creating the synergies between European and African dress at first, there has been a shift to purchase made-to-measure (MTM), or even ready-to-wear labels that focus specifically on Sapology.

Maxime from Brazzaville in 2010 started a project called “Sapeur in Danger” to help sapeurs learn La Sape without spending and sacrificing too much. Maxime encourages sapeurs to make use of local tailors for clothes instead of waiting for European fashion. Not only will this hopefully decrease the amount of fashion waste but it will create jobs and decrease poverty in the community.

Peter Moelans (33) from Antwerp, Belgium builds on Maxime’s vision. Moelans dresses like a sapeur inspired by the La Sape movement in 2014 after watching a documentary called “Un Dimanche à Brazzaville (A Sunday in Brazzaville)”.

“I loved the styles worn and most of all the lust for life radiating from the sapeurs shown in (the documentary).”

However, for a style-conscious Moelans, finding off-the-rack suits that transcended the fashion of the moment proved tricky.

“I started at first by panic buying every piece I liked, which resulted in a wardrobe with a lot of items that were hard to combine and didn’t always fit properly.”

Together with a colleague, Moelans decided to start his own MTM label, called Petrus Suits, and practically only wears clothing (blazers, trousers, shirts, suits) from his label. Moelans’ shoes are from the Spanish brand Magnanni because they offer a wide and affordable range of shoes with original designs. Moelans buys ties and accessories from Amidé Hadelin, a fast growing Dutch brand that offers limited runs of Italian-made ties.

“We visit our customers, measure them and advise them on what fabrics, styles and fits to order. Our mission is to dress them as bright and conspicuous as their personality allows, in order for them to receive compliments and inspire the people around them. And thus, we come very close to the mission of La Sape.”

According to Moelans, the most important thing is the colourful flamboyance both in patterns and traditional suits which creates joy.

“Sapeurs are never afraid of being noticed. They see it as a duty, by way of dressing and behaviour, to first incorporate and then show elegance to everyone. Even if the world doesn’t seem to be open to it at first. But apart from that, a sapeur must not only know certain rules on how to combine colours and patterns, for example, but also how to break them within limits of the aesthetic,” says Moelans.

A generation of young South Africans has begun to embrace La Sape as an extension of the formal style of dress Xhosa boys adopt when they become men during umgidi.

In 2017, photographer and entrepreneur Tony Maake, aka Tony Mac, co-founded the Afrodandy Social Club in Cape Town, along with fellow dandies Omphile Sedumedi, Menzi Mcunu and Zola Msizi, to further the Afrodandy movement in South Africa and create entrepreneurial networks.

Tony Mac believes dandyism has always been within him, but says it only manifested in his physical appearance in 2011 through fashion, art, photography and videography.

“Our elders were dandies during apartheid, therefore I feel honoured to be part of the generation to continue the legacy of who we are and what we strive to be. To be a dandy is another fortunate platform to change how we want to be seen and to express ourselves, because dressing up is part of who we are as black people. We were born with it and it is in our blood.”

Tony Mac’s personal style is inspired by his mood and TV shows like Peaky Blinders. His favourite dandy accessory is a hat as he says it is a “symbolic honour to oneself” and he almost never leaves the house without one.

La Sape has evolved to represent more than just expensive labels. La Sape has become a way of life steeped in colonial history using the bright colours and bold patterns of traditional African dress on clothing deemed European.

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“It is a reminder to myself and to the people around me that life is beautiful and that you can choose who you are,” says Molans.

“In my opinion, a man is defined not only by going to traditional initiation school but by how a man carries himself in every inch of themselves. Black boys will turn into black men that are actually concerned about how they look, how they present themselves, how they step into a space and own it without saying anything, simply by the way they put their suit together,” adds Tony Mac.

Content courtesy of Daily Maverick & Nairobi fashion hub

Haute Couture sub-sector hamstrung with textile mills collapse

Posted on by Fashion Tribe Influencer

The Nigeria fashion industry, with its creativity in the use of fabrics to produce alluring styles, is merely standing on one leg.

Past governments, through their unstable policies, succeeded in diminishing efforts of enterprising designers, including Frank Oshodi, Zizi Cardow, Lanre Da Silva, Lisa Folawiyo, Deola Sagoe, among others, who, despite all these, are making waves across the world, while exploring the African Ankara and other local fabrics with flora and fauna prints.

These designers now spend huge sums of money to import fabrics, which is 1980 and 1990 were sourced locally.

Reports say currently, out of the over 300 textile companies that were scattered across the country, providing numerous fashion designers with quality fabrics to dress Nigerians, and for export, only 25 of them are still in operation. This number, aside from being too low and malnourishing, the haute couture sub-sector of the fashion industry, becomes a source of concern when the textile mills are operating very well below capacity – about 20 per cent of their installed capacity.

And from the look of things, the situation may not improve any time soon as virtually all the textile mills are laden with a plethora of challenges, including funding and inadequate power supply. This means, if the authorities concerned are not proactive in sustaining the height, which the fashion industry has reached, it would get to a level where its productivity will nosedive, and those making waves within and outside the country thrown into the already saturated labour market or forced to migrate to other countries to showcase their talents. This would not only mean loss of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), but also a drop in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to research findings by Euromonitor published in 2019, the African fashion market is worth $31b, with Nigeria accounting for about $4.7b (15 per cent) of it. The figure is not only lower than South Africa’s current share of ($14.4b), though Nigeria has nearly four times its population, it can be improved upon with the nation’s rising population and resourceful youth.

While the report also puts the estimated value of Africa’s share of the global fashion industry market at about $2.5t, some designers and stakeholders in the industry believe that Nigerian couturiers would only get a sizable part of the market if different tiers of governments partner with them to remove all bottlenecks that are crippling the sector, and stopping it from emerging the leader in the sub-Saharan market.

In the past, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the textile, apparel and footwear sector has, since 2010, recorded a growth rate of 17 per cent, which was as a result of an increase in demand for and, partly by unprecedented initiatives that continue to push the Nigerian fashion globally.

Many designers and stakeholders have noted that what is happening is not healthy for the sector, and the nation’s economy, as it has negatively affected pricing, aside from rendering able-bodied people jobless.

They also observed that for the country to sustain its pride of place and have a flourishing haute couture, which is a major part of the fashion industry, its textile mills must be functional.

Outset Of The Rot
FROM the 1980s to 1990s, Nigeria was known across the West African sub-region and the world for its burgeoning textile industries, which recorded a yearly growth of 67 per cent, and engaging about 25 per cent of workers in the manufacturing sector.

During this period, about 600,000 local farmers across the country grew and supplied cotton to the Cotton, Textile, and Garment (CTG) industries. But today, many of these industries have gone underground and the 25 that are still operating are not meeting up with local demands, making the nation to depend heavily on imported fabrics from Europe, United States, China, India, Saudi Arabia, among others to sustain its local fashion industry.

The Acting General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, Ali Baba, but the woes of the Textile, Garment and Tailoring sector on government and its never-ending policy somersault.

He traced the origin of the problems to 1995 when Nigeria replaced the Multi-fibre Agreement (MFA) with the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).

The scribe pointed out that with the replacement, Nigeria had to remove all protection of its local textile industry, adding that it would have been proper for the nation’s policymakers to first, secure special arrangements with the WTO, such that its local textile industries would be protected until they were able to stand on their feet.

According to him, the WTO agreement opened the Nigerian market to cheaper textile imports, predominantly from China, as well as second-hand clothing from the United States and Europe.

However, before the expiration of the MFA, the United States had introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an initiative that opened up the American market to African countries to export to the U.S., but instead of African countries enjoying the window opened to them, China with its textiles proved stronger and took over the U.S. market.

This, on its own, set most African countries backward, as many of them, particularly Nigeria, is yet to recover from the setback.

Ailing Textile Industries In Kaduna, Kano
In Kano, quarters including Sharada Phase I and II, Challawa and Bompai are well-recognised as industrial hubs with textile companies manufacturing different fabrics scattered around it.

Largely dominated by Lebanese businessmen, the old famous sector has a history of providing employment opportunities for the teeming youths in the North.

Conversely, the good old stories of the 1980s and 1990s of textile industries in Kano have changed. The booming sector that accounted for almost 20 large-scale industries can hardly produce five ailing factories, running above 50 per cent capacity.

The acting General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, Ali Baba, identified epileptic power supply, lack of patronage, and invasion of foreign fabrics dominating the markets as part of factors hindering the growth of the local textile industries.

According to him: “Power remains one of the critical challenges killing textile industries in northern Nigeria, especially in Kano and Kaduna, where factories dominate. Our power generation has not exceeded 5, 000 megawatt in a long time. Sometimes, we have as low as 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts. This is not enough to run a successful textile industry.

“Aside from smuggling and counterfeits, foreign textiles are another major challenge. Local fabrics are synonymous with Nigeria and northern Nigeria in particular because the first textile industry in Nigeria was situated in Kaduna State.

“Unfortunately, we now have a situation where criminal elements take the best of our designs to China to reproduce and return to Nigeria to sell them within the range of N3, 000 to N4, 000.”

Baba disclosed that Nigerians and not Chinese are to be blamed for our woes in the sector because it is the Nigerian businessmen that usually take the samples of our local fabrics to China to reproduce.

He noted that even with the closure of the country’s borders, Nigerians could not exhaust Chinese fabrics already stocked in different warehouses across the country for the next seven years.

Commenting on various interventions aimed at rejuvenating the sector, the Acting General Secretary noted that such interventions have not begun yielding any meaningful fruits because of other issues, including infrastructure, quality, and standard, the market, taxation, among others have not been properly handled.

“Textile factory owners pay the cost of demurrage when they have not even sourced funds to clear their raw materials at the seaports, or transport them up North. There are multiple taxes on the road, aside from other risks. The Federal Government needs to reduce all these liabilities and make policies that will mandate agencies and departments to patronise locally produced products,” he stated.

A National Council member of the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Managing Director of Tofa Textile Limited, Sulaiman Isiyaku Umar, also decried the sad state of textile industries in Kano, considering the huge economic viability and employment opportunity abound in the sector.

Umar also attributed the failing state of the textile industry partly to inconsistent government policies that stagnate the system as soon as there is regime change, aside from the huge and multiple taxations from various government agencies.

Saving A Sinking Sector
REALISING that Nigeria is losing over $4b yearly for opening its borders to foreign textile companies to bring in fabrics into the country, the government placed a ban on imported finished textiles, in order to protect local manufacturers and designers. Despite this, smuggling has persisted, especially through the Benin Republic, Chad, and Niger borders.

According to the Director-General, Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA), Mr. Hamma Kwajaffa, about 85 per cent of textiles sold in the country are smuggled, and the country loses around $325m in potential Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue annually from this.

To revamp dormant textile industries, the Bank of Industry (BoI) in 2010, released N30b as a grant to the textile industry, as part of the Cotton, Textiles and Garment Industry Revival Scheme passed at the end of 2009. The Kaduna textile industry received an N24b grant, which was part of the N100b expected to be injected into the industry.

The then Vice President, Namadi Sambo, disclosed that the initiative would create jobs for more than 2, 000 Nigerians. After the presentation, the programme went like others, as nothing much was heard of it. The factories are still not producing as expected.

However, in continuation of the government’s intervention, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), early last year, placed a restriction on the sale of foreign exchange to importers of textiles and other clothing materials in the country, stating that the measure would reposition the textile, cotton and garment industry to provide jobs, create wealth and ginger the economy.

In addition to this, the government would provide loans at 4.5 per cent interest rate to textile manufacturers at a single digit interest rate to enable them to retool and upgrade their factories to produce high-quality textile materials for the local and export markets.

Aside the Anchor Borrowers Programme, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said not long ago that the bank would support local farmers to grow cotton for textile firms, as well as support efforts to source high-yield cotton seedlings to ensure that yields from cotton farmers meet global standards.

Emefiele also disclosed that the apex bank would support the creation of textile production centres in designated areas, stressing that the government has begun discussions with the Kano and Kaduna states’ governments to establish textile industrial areas to guarantee stable electricity in those industrial areas.

The Real Situation
THE former National Chairman of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA), Ibrahim Igomu, said the ban placed on imported textile and finished clothing does not mean that the country would automatically stop buying textiles or clothing from other countries.

He explained that the policy would only discourage importers from sourcing textile materials from overseas, but to look inwards and source their raw materials locally.

For Hilary Nwosu, a fashion designer, repositioning the textile industry was beyond mere policymaking as most times, the government would speak from both sides of their mouths, a development, which made operations in the sector unstable.

Nwosu, the proprietor of Hilary Couture, called for a sustainable blueprint, which subsequent governments would use as a guide to steer the fashion industry in the right direction.

Content courtesy of The Guardian Nigeria & Nairobi fashion hub

The Naked Ape celebrates 10 years at SA Fashion Week

Posted on by Oscar Alochi

The Naked Ape, a clothing brand by Shaldon Kopman, is celebrating 10 years at South African Fashion Week.

The brand is known for its bespoke Africa inspired men’s wear that dresses the quintessence of the African spirit will once again be showcasing at SAFW on October 24.

At the show, to be held at the Mall Of Africa, Kopman will be revealing his latest collection, The Street Rover- inspired by the indomitable nature of the industry urban salvors, who emerge from the pre-dawn darkness into the day, irrespective of the season’s onslaught, suitably attired for the conditions to harvest, recycle and repurpose our disposed personal effects.

Kompan said: “This range goes beyond a look, and encapsulates the ethos of the salvor, in using recycled, and sustainable materials developed using unique and environmentally friendly processes, as well as energy-efficient methodologies to produce a ‘kind to nature’ product which

“lovingly instils the African story in each piece.

“Each piece is an environmental hero and an embodiment of the African warrior spirit seamlessly blending into the urban landscape.”

The Street Rover range is a gift of love to anyone who has longed for a Naked Ape ensemble, and day-today wear for its legion of bespoke clients.

The Naked Ape has been worn by notables of the silver screen like Samuel L Jackson and Orlando Jones.

Content courtesy of IOL , SA Fashion Week & Nairobi fashion hub 

A new Generation of E-commerce Retailers want to Globalise African fashion

Posted on by Fashion Tribe Influencer

Sites like Industrie Africa, The Folklore and Afrikrea are connecting African designers to customers abroad, but designers are wary of what international demand will do to their businesses.

For African designers, local e-commerce platforms can provide a gateway to an international audience eager to shop their collections. After several setbacks, a new generation of players is stepping up to bring African fashion to a global customer.

Companies including Industrie Africa, Afrikrea, Kisua and The Folklore are attracting designers wanting to gain awareness among customers outside of Africa. These companies help facilitate cross-border shipping and handling as well as marketing, all resource-intensive hurdles that could otherwise act as barriers for African fashion designers who have a willing buyer outside of their native continent, but no way to reach them sustainably.

“Shortly after launching my business on Instagram, I had people from New Zealand, Accra, New York messaging me about purchasing,” says Vanessa Iloenyosi, founder and designer of Nigerian label Nyosi, which launched in 2017. “There was no way to get things to them effectively.” Iloenyosi then partnered with The Folklore after the company, which acts as an online curator for luxury African fashion customers in the US, reached out to her.

E-commerce marketplaces for African fashion tap into a growing demand for African designer goods all over the world. Currently, Africa’s e-commerce opportunity is estimated to be $19.8 billion by Statista. According to McKinsey, the continent’s local manufacturing industry is also expected to grow to $930 billion by 2025.

This presents an opportunity for African e-tailers to promote Africa’s fashion industry globally. African designers are hoping that these partnerships, in addition to offering benefits like better shipping rates and distribution, will introduce a greater pool of customers to African fashion.

Working with a team of buyers who understand the local market also makes for a better experience selling abroad. But some designers are wary of what globalising the African fashion market means for their businesses and are pushing for a local emphasis on e-commerce plays.

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With programmes like the Africa free-trade policy, a growing middle class and internet use, initiatives to encourage artisanship and African sourcing such as the Designers Consociate and grassroots work to encourage government subsidies, designers and e-tailers on the continent are hopeful that African fashion will become more than a fad for Western customers or a luxury that only richer Africans home and in the diaspora can access.

Some see it as a long time coming, but earlier attempts to establish a go-to online marketplace for African fashion have stalled.

Zuvaa, founded in 2014, lost trust with designers after marking down prices and refusing to pay the agreed commissioning rate, resulting in a 2017 petition that racked up 3,000 signatures.

The company ended up shutting down in 2019 due to the lack of infrastructure and an operations team versed in the African e-commerce industry, according to founder Kelechi Anyadiegwu. Oxosi, a once-promising African e-commerce play positioned as “Africa’s answer to Moda Operandi” that worked with prominent brands including Maki Oh, Brother Vellies and Osei Duro and inked a deal with the costume department of HBO’s Insecure, abruptly shut down in 2017. Oxosi did not respond to requests for comment.

The perks of online partnerships

E-tailers like Afrikrea, which is based in Ivory Coast and launched in 2016, are able to address shipping costs for African designers through lucrative partnerships with DHL, a company invested in tapping into Africa’s growing e-commerce.

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Designers selling on Afrikrea can create storefronts and receive payments from customers anywhere in the world, an important benefit for sellers based in Africa who have had difficulties accepting online payments from platforms like Shopify in the past.

Founder Moulaye Taboure recently raised $1 million in funding to further promote African designs and expand intracontinental distribution.

Amira Rasool, founder of The Folklore, uses a slightly different strategy. She and her team spend as much as four months on the continent sourcing products, coaching designers on how to price for a global market, helping to find stylists, product shooting, and negotiating shipping rates with third-party agencies. The designers then make the products and ship to the company’s warehouse in New Jersey, where it is then dispersed to customers.

African fashion e-commerce platforms also serve functions that go beyond shipping and distribution. Fashion education is a core component of Industrie Africa and critical in building up e-commerce on the continent, says founder and CEO Nisha Kanabar. Kanabar says she started the platform to shatter stereotypical interpretations of African design, which usually involve the Dutch Wax Print known as Ankara, and earn the market respect by amplifying Pan-African voices.

The platform launched in 2018 as an encyclopedia of contemporary African design and centuries-old artisanship native to the continent, then segued into e-commerce, allowing customers to shop by filters such as sustainability and material type important because it helps promote the work of African artisans in the textile industry. Most clientele is based in the UK and the US.

“African fashion consumers are already shopping online on Asos, Zara, Harrods. They just need to be taught [and] shown to ‘shop African’,” Kanabar says.

The drawbacks of scaling globally

While many African designers aim to get their collections in front of a global audience, that growth can strain small businesses as they try to meet customer expectations that don’t align with their operations. Fashion consumers have gotten accustomed to fast fashion practices that African designers cannot afford to bear, say Maxwell Boko and Mmuso Potsane, the South African design duo behind the label Mmuso Maxwell.

“See-now, buy-now is distorting people’s understanding of how fashion design works,” the design duo says. The designers argue that while international African e-commerce retailers are offering support for designers, an overreliance on Western imports undermines the industry.

“People want to come to the party when people are already there. It’s sad that co-signs from “international media” is what assures people of the unique lens that African designers bring to fashion,” says Boko.

Others in the industry are similarly wary of hinging too much of African designers’ success on how much they can resonate with a global customer. Zara Odu, a former buyer at Oxosi, says the platform came about as a way to represent that African fashion industry for Africa’s online shoppers. “Oxosi came at a time when designers were starting to get tired of pandering to international buyers and retailers,” she says. “They had spent so long waiting to belong in stores internationally; but Oxosi came with a ‘for us, buy us’ perspective accompanied with the most beautiful visuals and narrative. It was undeniably powerful, and everyone wanted to be a part of that.”

Even successful international partnerships introduce new pressures on designer businesses. For Iloenyosi, selling on The Folklore has been largely beneficial, but the cost of production led to a significant disparity between the cost of products on her Instagram page and the Folklore website leading to queries from some customers. The designer is launching her own e-commerce platform as an alternative for customers who are OK with waiting much longer for products.

Still, African designers are garnering notice from international retailers as the marketability of the sector becomes clearer, thanks in part to the African specific e-commerce platforms. Browns, owned by international luxury marketplace Farfetch, recently joined forces with Homecoming the multi-hyphenate platform whose aim is to support and bolster art and design in Africa  to showcase Africa’s fashion talent.

The festival ended with Nigerian designer Orange Culture announcing an e-commerce partnership with Farfetch. Designers like Kenneth Ize, Thebe Magugu and Mowalola have also earned global recognition.

African e-commerce platforms and buyers who understand the limitations that designers on the continent face are, ultimately, a boon for the industry.

“Designers will only grow if they can continue to sell at a steady and sustainable pace. With growing interest in traditions that are central to Africans, which boost the manufacturing and textile sectors, African merchandising will grow, allowing for better products to be made and sold all over the world,” says Odu.

Writen by BY ADEDOYIN ADENIJI

Content courtesy of Vogue Business & Nairobi fashion hub 

African Prints, Jumpsuits And Funk Describe Xuly Bët’s SS21 Paris Fashion Week Show

Posted on by Fashion Police

Malian – Senegalese fashion designer Lamine Badian Kouyaté produced a collection through his brand Xuly Bët that demonstrated resilience and positivity, something that the world and fashion needs at the moment. A collection with African prints but one of multicultural dynamism, and diversity for the Paris week slate of shows is needed more in the City of Lights.

Held at Paris’ l’Aiguillage, an old SNCF train station that has been reconverted into artist residencies and photo studios, held more symbolism than one would imagine. More on that in a moment.

Menswear and womenswear looks ranged from lively African prints on dresses to pants suits. Printed messages across pants can be seen, to gold metallic jumpsuits, to even auto-mechanic inspired blue collared shirts and work jumpsuits.

Casual blazers and pants fill the collection, and shorter hem lines can be found for women’s eveningwear.

It was Xuly Bët’s family and friends that modeled the 44 looks from rapper Kalash, former Miss France Flora Coquere, Brazilian singer Flavia Coelho and comedian Ayoub Layoussifi. The music was handled by Honey Dijon, Neneh Cherry and Robyn.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGA1mW_AuDt/?utm_source=ig_embed

And the location’s name “aiguilles,” meaning ‘guided’ fits perfectly as 2020 is a year that is guiding humanity into hope amid confusion.

Opening the show with the words of writer and social activist Michaela Angela Davis, Kouyaté and Rodrigo Martinez, the brand’s CEO wanted to honor Davis, as a sort of representation of the times the world is now in. “2020 is not a more difficult year than the others,” writes Davis.

“Times are not harder. It’s just that today, and finally, we open our eyes to society’s dysfunctions, the poverty that always existed, the racial crimes that surround us without ever being mentioned, this colonization that we are paying the price of today. Nevertheless, I remain an eternal optimist. Everything will change.”

Written by Allyson Portee

Content courtesy of Forbes Magazine & Nairobi fashion hub 

 

Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada dies from Covid-19

Posted on by Fashion Police

Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada, better known as Kenzo, who created his label in Paris in the 1970s, died on Sunday, the brand that still carries his name said.

Aged 81, Takada died of complications linked to Covid-19 at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a residential suburb on the western outskirts of the capital, his spokesperson told French media.

Also known for its perfumes and skincare lines, the Kenzo brand was sold in the early 1990s to LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury group, and has since had several other creative directors.

Under Kenzo Takada, it was known for its colourful motifs and original silhouettes, which mixed inspirations from Japan, such as the kimono, with other cuts.

“For half a century, Mr Takada has been an emblematic personality in the fashion industry always infusing creativity and colour into the world,” the Kenzo brand said in a statement on Instagram.

LVMH’s chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault issued a statement saying Kenzo had “infused into fashion a tone of poetic lightness and sweet freedom which inspired many designers after him”.

Takada moved to Paris in the mid-1960s, starting out with a small store before soon reaching star status, and remained in his adopted city. His contemporaries in a thriving period for Parisian fashion included Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent.

“Paris is mourning one of its sons today,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Twitter.

Content courtesy of Times Live & Nairobi fashion hub 

Fashion Brand SaS Corner Embraces African Design Through Old-school Hippie Style

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Boasting a collection of tops, trousers, dresses and pinafores, SAS Collection looks to the continent of Africa for inspiration for its hippie-style feelgood pieces.

Moved by the vividness of African colours – from the fierce reds of the Maasai culture to  the proud blues and yellows of South Africa’s Southern Ndebele tribe Sara Saleh launched a brand that would embrace its own loud, bold and experimental nature. SAS Corner – which came out July 2020  takes the patterns of Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia, and incorporates them into hippie designs that have been taken straight out of the 1970s.

Using 100% Egyptian cotton, SAS Corner’s collection offers dresses, trousers, pinafores and two-piece sets, all embodying a summer aesthetic, with each pattern named after a different element in Swahili.

“When people dress in bright colours, they get the unique opportunity to translate their soul through the clothes they wear,” Saleh tells #CairoScene. “With our collection, which turns to the vibrancy of colours found across Africa, we’re going for clothes that scream positivity and good vibes, all the while maintaining the comfort and designs inspired by hippie fashion.”

Content courtesy of Cairo Scene & Nairobi fashion hub

Telfar Clemens Wins National Design Award for Fashion Design From Cooper Hewitt

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This is the second significant award Telfar Clemens has won recently, having been honored with the CFDA’s Accessories Designer of the Year award last month.

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum planned a virtual gala for Thursday night’s 21st National Design Awards.

Instead of welcoming hundreds to the Upper East Side museum for its annual awards gala, the Cooper Hewitt took a more remote approach for the event, which doubled as a kickoff for National Design Month. To promote an all-are-welcome theme, footage of the gala and ancillary educational programs are available online at no charge for anyone to discover the importance of design.

The Fashion Design award went to Telfar, but the company’s founder Telfar Clemens was not doing any interviews at this time, according to a Cooper Hewitt spokeswoman. An interview request sent to his company was not acknowledged.

In a self-description included in the Cooper Hewitt’s press material, Clemens wrote, “Become a queer, Black 18-year-old, travel back to 2004 and establish a 100 percent nongendered fashion line out of your family apartment in LeFrak City, Queens. Make clothes that do not exist on (folo) the market  just like you don’t exist in the world. Don’t have any money. Persist for a decade without a single review from the fashion press. Do everything differently. If stores won’t buy your clothes, show in museums.

If ‘beauty’ sponsors don’t like your skin and hair make the uniforms for a fast-food chain. Use the money to help bail out hundreds of kids off Rikers Island. Win the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, use the money to make an ‘It’ bag, where ‘It’ has nothing to do with domination. Refuse to be tokenized. Decline invitations. Use ‘fashion’ to envision a future that can help destroy the present. Lots of love, keep your family close, breathe; ignore the bulls–t, and please remember: the world isn’t everything.”

Clemens recently won another award of great distinction the 2020 Accessories Designer of the Year award at the CFDA Awards last month. The in-demand designer, who designed uniforms for 400-plus White Castle workers, unveiled a collaboration with Ugg a few weeks ago.

Studio 189 picked up the NDA’s Emerging Designer award. Founded by Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah, the label is an artisan produced lifestyle brand and social enterprise. Made in Africa, Studio 189 produces African and African-inspired content and clothing.

The Cooper Hewitt gave the Communication Design award to Scott Dadich, the founder of Godfrey Dadich Partners and creator of the Netflix series “Abstract: The Art of Design.” The Digital Design award went to Design I/O. Kickstarter, the crowdsourced launcher of many design-minded products and concepts, was the recipient of the 2020 Design Visionary award.

The NDA for Product Design was won by Catapult Design. The Oslo-based Snøhetta locked up the Architecture award while Sponge Park, located along the Gowanus Canal and designed by DLAND studio, earned the Climate Action award and OJB Landscape Architecture was the Landscape Architecture winner.

Content courtesy of WWD & Nairobi fashion hub 

Nisha Kanabar The Curator Championing African Fashion

Posted on by Fashion Tribe Influencer

Nisha Kanabar knows a thing or two about global fashion. Kanabar grew up in Tanzania in a family of Indian origin, moved to the U.S. to study at Parsons, and has worked at American Vogue, Vogue India, and Style.com in the Middle East. In 2018, her expertise led her to launch Industrie Africa, a platform representing the diversity of contemporary fashion in Africa.

She founded Industrie Africa in hopes of addressing the misconceptions and stereotypical impressions of what African design really is. “It was important for me to create a 360-degree hub of contemporary African fashion that’s global, curated, and current,” she told the Cut. “A space of commerce, content, and community celebrating and representing the voices of the industry and its pioneers.” The site is both a directory and a store, with over 80 brands from 24 different African countries.

The Cut spoke with Kanabar about The Real Housewives, French fries, and those Balenciagas that look like socks.

What’s one part of your work that’s especially meaningful to you?
Our inaugural summer campaign! It’s true to who we are as a platform and the designers we represent: fashion focused and curated, yet diverse and dynamic. The clothes and styling are powerful, distinct, and intrinsically African.

How do you thank someone for a gift?
A note of thanks via eye-catching stationery and  more importantly a reciprocal gesture of appreciation. That mutual exchange of generosity and thoughtfulness goes a long way in cultivating relationships.

What would you never wear?
Non-stretch skinny jeans. Make them low rise and then you have the stuff of nightmares.

What’s your dream vacation?
A long, ambling culinary journey across the Far East, peppered with street food and special restaurant experiences. Currently, Tokyo and Kyoto are at the top of my list. Beyond food, Japan has the most incredibly fascinating city cultures.

What’s a good book on your coffee table right now?
Not African Enough, by Sunny Dolat. Sunny is an exceptional ambassador for the shifting aesthetics of African (and, more specifically, Kenyan) fashion, often provoking dialogue on this notion of what is “authentically African.” He also sits on Industrie Africa’s advisory board.

Last show you binge-watched?
Masaba Masaba on Netflix.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Real Housewives of literally anywhere.

Secret to hosting a good party?
A good atmosphere stems from great lighting, delicious drink, and a very attentive host.

What is a trend that you like right now?
Considered, conscious shopping habits. The consumer of today is different from the consumer of six months ago people value “slow fashion” and search for meaning in their purchases more than ever.

One you don’t understand?
Corsets. I like to breathe.

Favorite restaurant in New York?
Gramercy Tavern, my neighborhood haunt back in the day.

What’s the one thing you could eat every day for the rest of your life?
Crispy, chile-lime-salted French fries!

Shoes you wear most often?
Day to day, mostly leather sandals for our coastal tropical climes. When I travel? Probably my Balenciaga knit-sock sneakers.

What are five inanimate objects that bring you joy?

Ami Doshi Shah Form Earrings $285

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“You will not find anything like these geometrically sculpted brass earrings. They walk a delicate line between sophistication and edge. All Ami’s pieces are inspired by her Kenyan environment, handcrafted using local materials.”

Fornasetti Rossetti Scented Candle $365

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“Fornasetti ceramics are the ultimate whimsical indulgence. Their candles (housed in decorated heirloom vessels) take on the role of art and accessory and add great texture to your home.”

Lisa Folawiyo Wide Leg Pants $420

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“I love to build a look around one statement separate, and these luxurious, mixed-print pants from celeb-favorite Nigerian designer Lisa Folawiyo are both fun and fashionable.”

Patrick Mavros Mongoose & Cobra Swizzle Stick $366

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“Zimbabwean heritage brand Patrick Mavros has been creating these masterful, wildlife-inspired silver accessories since 1980 (you can shop their jewelry on Industrie Africa). I love these darling sterling-silver swizzle sticks; they complement any bar set, make a great gift, and are a lovely conversation piece.”

Okapi Black Stonewash Aja Clutch With Black Ostrich Feather Charm $670

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“These ostrich-skin leather clutches are breathtaking and meticulously crafted, and they come paired with playful accessories like this feather charm. They’re also guilt free (the brand has adopted a no-waste ethos and uses materials that are ethically sourced as a by-product of South Africa’s preexisting farming industry).”

Content courtesy of The Cut & Nairobi fashion hub 

Milan Fashion Week gives small opening to Black Lives Matter

Posted on by Fashion Police

MILAN (AP) – When asked why there aren’t more people of color in the Italian fashion industry, officials have cited a lack of candidates in homogeneous Italy. Five African-born designers in Italy want to put that view to rest with their inclusion on the official Milan Fashion Week calendar Sunday.

Fabiola Manirakiza came to Italy after her parents were killed in her native Burundi in 1972. For her Made-in-Italy Kiza label, she incorporates patterns from her Bantu tribe, as taught by an elder sister, into her Western tailored silhouette, the influence of the Italian family who raised her.

‘’It is not just Italy that needs to see, it is the whole world,’’ said Manikrazia, whose creations were among those featured in the video presentation titled “We Are Made in Italy. Italy is Made of Us.”

The official Black Lives Matter in Italian fashion event is a first step in a process that Stella Jean, the only Black designer belonging to Italy’s prestigious fashion council, hopes will bring real diversity to the creative and decision-making centers of Italian fashion to combat racism in the industry.

Another critical step was the launch of a think tank last week bringing together top fashion houses on the council with Black creatives. But Jean said there remains resistance to the campaign she has launched with U.S. designer Edward Buchanan and Michelle Ngomo, founder of Afro Fashion Week Milano, with pressure on them to abandon it.

Italy’s relatively small African-origin population, which government statistics put at around 1.2 million, has rendered it mostly invisible in the country of some 60 million, with no well-known faces in the political class or on television — and few behind the closed doors of Italian fashion.

Jean and her colleagues began pushing the industry to make concrete moves toward diversifying Italian fashion after major houses showed social media support for the Black Lives Matter protests over racial equality and police brutality during the summer. After many racially charged gaffes in recent years, they also are asking for an accounting of the numbers of people of color working inside the system.

“No one is looking to stand back and blame you for the current situation,’’ Jean said in introductory remarks to the think tank, made available to The Associated Press. ‘’Instead we are asking you to be part of the solution starting today. Racism in Italy … is a very unique case study. It doesn’t resemble the type that exists with our European neighbors and it also differs greatly from the American kind. This however doesn’t render it less harmful or discriminative, only different.’’

Jean told The Associated Press that the few companies whose representatives spoke discussed activities to support Black minorities in the United States and other causes ‘’but completely avoiding the point of our discussion: Black minority in Italy.’’

“I must say with all sincerity that the silence of the representatives of the colossal Made-in-Italy brands left a lasting bitter and embarrassing impression,’’ Jean said. ‘’In total astonishment, it struck me that greatness and global commercial authority does not always correspond to an equally grand sense of responsibility to humanity.’’

On a positive note, the fashion council had agreed to implement six reform points by February, she said. The council also agreed to provide scholarships and mentorships to fashion students of color. And she hopes that the time spent listening will lead to greater participation next time.

The head of Italy’s fashion council, Carlo Capasa, called the meeting ‘’interesting and instructive,’’ and that the brand representatives were there to mostly listen. ‘’There was no reason for friction,” he said.

Calling the meeting, ‘’a beginning,’’ he told the AP the council will continue to work on diversity points of its nearly year-old diversity manifesto, including the commitment that diversity is an asset. He confirmed that the think tank would continue to meet periodically.

The brands participating were Armani, Zegna, Bottega Veneta, Etro, Gucci, Prada, Valentino and Ferragamo. The Kering conglomerate, which owns Gucci and Bottega Veneta, and the OTB group, which owns Marni and Diesel also participated.

A planned closing statement was never issued.

But Miuccia Prada, during the video presentation of next spring’s collection, emphasized the importance of inclusivity, along with sustainability. She acknowledged the need to ‘’really embrace it,” adding ‘’which is what I decided to do, not only declaring it, but trying, little by little, to be better.”

The participants in the Black Lives Matter event have worked in other trades or professions before following their fashion dreams. Most have submitted resumes to fashion companies, with no response, and some have seen professional doors fail to open after promising meetings, without explanation.

Joy Meribe, born in Nigeria and with an Italian Masters in business, studied fashion in Italy so she could alter garments she was selling through her blog on African fashion designers, and realized she had the knack herself. Her collection, Modaf Designs, uses African prints on silk and cotton instead of the traditional wax cloth, making them easier to wear and integrate into a Western wardrobe.

Claudia Gisele Ntsama, originally from Cameroon, has supported herself cleaning houses to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer, unveiling in Milan fantastical swirling pieces made mostly of raw hemp.

Ngomo, who discovered the five designers, said she feels a great responsibility also to young people of color in Italy who have been inspired by the initiatives.

‘’Many kids are writing to thank me, saying they have rediscovered their trust, and they had hope,’’ Ngomo said. “I know we are trendy now. I am not sure next year we will have all this light on the project. I want to be positive and believe this is a next step.’’

Content courtesy of Journal Now, The Associated Press & Nairobi fashion hub

Caribbean Designers Make Modern Looks From Traditional African Prints

Posted on by Fashion Police
Photo by David I Muir Model: Michelle McLean

Fashion isn’t for decoration only. What we wear can be a proud declaration of our cultural heritage. This is the guiding principle for these Caribbean fashion designers, who are using African-inspired prints to create styles that fit every woman. Inspired by their culturally grounded, but always fashion-forward perspective, we take their stunning looks out for a stroll.

Photo by David I Muir Model: Michelle McLean

Designed by Fashion brand Brass and Sassy, this dark, striped romper feels fit for the daring diva, combining a bare midriff with butterfly sleeves with layered pum pum shorts. Add a pair of dark strappy heels and prepare to have all eyes on you.

Photo by David I Muir Model: Maisie McNaught

Also from Brass and Sassy, this matching tied bandeau top and fitted, flared pants in earthy hues of orange, green and deep red create a statuesque silhouette.

Photo by David I Muir Model: Maisie McNaught

Bright orange with bands of purple are made fit for a queen in this regal, billowing off-the-shoulder dress designed by Kulture Klothes, a chic boutique in Miami Gardens. With a floor-length hemline, it’ll make you look like you’re walking on air.

This off-the-shoulder denim number from Kulture Klothes is dressed up with large flower patterns, accent bands of fabric, and a whole lot of bling. Casual, eye-catching, fabulous.

Photo by David I Muir Model: Kimberley McNaught

From Kulture Klothes, this sleeveless, high-low baby doll dress is fitted at the top with a shapely lower half that’s short in the front and long in the back. The blue and red fabric is accessorized with royal blue shawl and head wrap.

Model: Michelle McLean
Model: Maisie McNaught
Model: Kimberley McNaught
Makeup: Faith Elibert

Content courtesy of Island Origins Magazine & Nairobi fashion hub 

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