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Africa Fashion: the Origins

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Africa Fashion: the Origins

Photo credit: Victoria and Albert Museum,

Nabil Zorkot, Anna Mar, jeuneafrique.com

Angela Jansen Eric Don-Arthur

Text: Anna Mar

21/09/2022

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Photo credit: Victoria and Albert Museum,

Nabil Zorkot, Anna Mar, jeuneafrique.com

Angela Jansen Eric Don-Arthur

Text: Anna Mar

21/09/2022

 

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The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has opened the largest exhibition of African fashion in history. We visited it and, as part of African Art Month in our magazine, want to share with you what we learned about Africa fashion. Today we’re going to talk about the origins of African fashion and the pioneering designers. This exhibition is not just about fashion, but about history of fashion as a self-defining art form that begins with the era of African independence. When we look at the clothes and other exhibits, we see and understand that every cut, line, drape and stitch, every fabric and fibre is a story of creativity told by a multitude of African voices.

In the 1950s, the hope of empowerment sparked an unprecedented surge in artistic and cultural expression. Many artists and designers, combining local traditions with global contemporary styles, are creating works that celebrate national, regional and intercontinental heritage. And in some countries still struggling for liberation and equality, such as Guinea Bissau and South Africa, art has become a space for protest. At the time, commemorative fabrics with photographs of political leaders and messages of protest and celebration were particularly popular. Commissioned by political agents as instruments of of propaganda and celebration, these fabrics were cheap to produce and available to a wide audience audiences. They were sold all over the continent and in the diaspora. They served as a visible expression of shared identity, ideals and concerns.

Through colour, pattern, texture and different techniques – a huge number of cultural meanings and stories have been embodied in clothes. For example, for the Ewe, the patterns of «kente» cloth often make a reference to daily life, rather than social standing. Each pattern has a name, usually given by the weaver, which can be inspired by a historical event, a proverb or even individuals in pop culture.

«Cloth is to the African what monuments are to Westerners» - sculptor El Anatsui.

The years of independence led to the professionalisation of the fashion industry. It was fundamental to the decolonisation of minds. Some governments recognising this, as well as the economic potential of the fashion and textile industries, introduced policies to encourage their growth.

Big-name designers began to appear whose clients were in different countries, on different continents and all over the world. These designers included: Alphadi, Naima Bennis, Kofi Ansah, Chris Seydou, Thomas-Fahm.

ALPHADI

Alphadi was born in Timbuktu, Mali, on the eve of independence. At early ages he learnt fashion design. Later, he studied at the Atelier Chardon Savard in Paris. With global ambition, he has opened boutiques all over the world.

His designs celebrate the beauty of the African continent, its rich histories and cultures. In the design of Alphadi’s clothes we can often find a strip of Téra-Téra cloth (a handwoven fabric traditionally made in Téra, Niger). Historically this fabric is used to cover brides on their wedding day. Designer references this history, creating a design to represent a strong woman, dynamic and fully independent.

NAIMA BENNIS

 Born in Casablanca in 1940, Naima Bennis was one of several Moroccan independent women designers who ventured into the fashion business.

Elegant evening cloaks were one of Bennis’s signature creations. Made in a soft velvet with gold passementerie, this was the ultimate luxury design, created to appeal to the elite cosmopolitan woman of 1960s and ’70s Morocco. Bennis’s creations fused multiple design traditions. She often paired Moroccan silhouettes with French couture fabrics and used the fine woollen weave bziwi, more traditionally used for menswear, to create elegant designs for women.

KOFI ANSAH

Known as the enfant terrible of Ghanaian fashion,Kofi Ansah propelled Ghana on to the catwalks of haute couture.

Raised by an artistic family in Nkrumah’ post-independence Ghana, Ansah had a global, future-focused view which guided his work. He first made headlines upon his graduation from London’s Chelsea School of Art when he created a beaded top for Anne, Princess Royal. After spending time working for prominent London designers, finessing his craft, he started his own brand. Having made a good name for himself on the European fashion scene, Ansah returned to Ghana in 1992 to create Artdress, his design and creative concept company.

“West isn't always best... Inspiration is all around you” - Ryan Ansah quoting his father Kofi Ansah.

It could be said that his signature was that Ansah, even from the beginning of his career, always turned to «kente» cloth, highly prized and prestigious in Ghana, but used it in a non-traditional way.

CHRIS SEYDOU

Chris Seydou was involved in fashion from an early age and learnt his craft from his mother, a seamstress from Kati, Mali. After completing a tailoring apprenticeship, he opened his first boutique in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 1967.

Being a fan of French fashion, he moved to Paris in the early 1970s, where he worked for almost twenty years. He first worked in French fashion houses and then in his own studio. He worked with different materials, from shiny lurex to fine silks, creating stylish and elegant evening dresses. Seydoux was a pioneer in promoting African fashion on a global stage.

THOMAS-FAHM

Shade Thomas-Fahm moved to England in the early 50s to train as a nurse, but then changed careers and started studying fashion at St Martin’s School of Art (now Central Saint Martins) in London. She returned home to Lagos in 1960, the year of Nigeria’s independence, and opened her own boutique, Maison Shade. Thomas-Fahm is a passionate advocate of Nigerian fabrics, often using «aso-okè», «adire», «akwete» and «okene» in her designs.

If you would like to learn more about the different African cloth, we encourage you to read this article published on the The Victoria and Albert Museum website.

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