AFRICAN DESIGNERS ELEVATING THE CULTURE OF FASHION

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By Koya Nyangi

African culture cannot be manufactured somewhere else. African creativity is inspirational and has informed a world that has not yet fully seen and witnessed that creativity.

Africa has a long rich history of culture, brimming with opportunities. The lands are as rich and rooted in as much diversity as their people.

African Fashion Mixes Tradition With Modernity

Its fashion is so unique you cannot quantify it. It’s freeing and bears no labels.

It mixes tradition with modernity; its fashion is the epitome of sustainability just like how the people live: being creative and innovative, turning sacks into outfits made for kings and queens, raffia into bags, cowrie shells into gowns and turmeric into paint. Everything is luxurious and handmade while simultaneously preserving the land around them.

African fashion gives hope and is rooted in community, showing the people’s capabilities and transforming perceptions so ignorantly made about its people. African fashion gives hope and is rooted in community.

A Fountain Of Creativity

Fifty-four countries yet ignored and left out in the global world. How could this be and for so long? A continent that has inspired great minds (read Picasso) in terms of creativity, yet African creativity is questioned. Is it good enough, is it worth the money?

African culture cannot be manufactured somewhere else. African creativity is inspirational and has informed a world that has not yet fully seen and witnessed that creativity.

You see, the stories of Africa have for so long been told through the lens of another. The time for that is over. Africans are now telling their own stories.

A Fashion Show And Much More

In June, the company Let Me Show You Different (LMSYD) hosted its first African Designers show that celebrated African creativity and gave African creatives an opportunity on the global platform.

Africans are now telling their own stories.

The show featured five different African designers: Adele Dejak, an Anglo-Nigerian designer based in Kenya; Kiko Romeo from Kenya; Sevaria from Kenya; the Saba Label from Kenya; Margaux Wong from Burundi; and Laanirani from South Africa.

The event celebrated by indulging in the cuisines of South Africa provided to us by Taste of

Soweto and enjoying Senegalese food from Chef David of Pikine Grill. There was music from Mbira and marimbas being played by Obert and his Zimbabwean family.

Guests played the djembe taught by Francis, a Ghanaian. And Africans danced as if they were back home, all in unison!

LMSYD created an event that was not African-inspired but African-led. It showcased Africans as the authors of their story, sharing their beautiful fashion with this special gathering and spreading their culture.

Much more than a fashion show, this event showcased African identity and creativity.

Africans are now telling their own stories.

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By Andrea Bazoin, M.Ed., Founder of everHuman