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African Fashion: The new generation

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African Fashion: The new generation

Photo credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Anna Mar

Text: Anna Mar

24/09/2022

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Photo credit: Victoria and Albert

Museum, London, Anna Mar

Text: Anna Mar

24/09/2022

 

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We continue to reveal for you the theme of African fashion, which was well covered in the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A huge part of the exhibition is represented by the work of contemporary African fashion and jewellery designers and photographers. The creativity of the fashion scene is limitless. Africa has many histories, cultures and creative expressions. The exhibition organizers divided the fashion designers into different sections: Minimalism, Mixology, Artisanal and Afrotopia.

MINIMALIST

The fashion brands Mmusomaxwell, Katush and Moshions are committed to a minimalist aesthetic. Their design contradicts the stereotypical notions of bright and patterned African fashion. They create completely innovative architectural clothing designs. These designers draw on local cultural references, but reinterpret them for today with a simplified aesthetic.

MIXOLOGIST

New combinations of materials (patterns, prints, textures) create a new visual language in which designers, like Bubu Ogisi for IAMISIGO, Lisa Folawiyo, Doreen Mashika refer to the past and at the same time address the future. This is a very significant trend for the contemporary African fashion scene. Another important trend is the merging of different cultural references and traditions together.

For example, artist Hassan Hajjaj turned Moroccan babouche into a parody of the sport shoes with Louis Vuitton’s signature print. Such bold combinations proclaim the unity of the continent, but at the same time recognizing differences.

ARTISANAL

This sector is all about handwork, where modern techniques are combined with ancient crafts. Fabrics such as dir, aso-oke, and mohair are rich sources of inspiration for many designers like Kenneth Ize, Awa Meite, Imane Ayissi and Adeju Thompson for his LAGOS SPACE PROGRAMME.

Sustainability and sustainable practices are often the prevailing direction for African fashion. Brand NKWO works with small-scale artisan makers across the African continent that specialise in hand crafts like dyeing, weaving, beading and embroidery. Founder and creative director of the brand, Nkwo Onwuka explores ways of using waste materials in her designs while still preserving traditional textile craft skills. This led to her invention of ‘dakala cloth’, made from waste fabric which is stripped and then sewn back together with a technique that gives the appearance of traditional woven cloth.

AFROTOPIA

Fashion is a space for the imagination. Designers Laure Tarot and Baay Sooley from the brand BULL DOFF, Selly Raby Kane, Amine Bendriouich and Patience Torlowei, through their craft, express their reflections on the future and the world around us. Such narrative fashion discusses pressing concerns of our day, from fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights to reversing stereotypes about Black women in history or confronting the environmental crisis.

For example, Loza Maléombho in her collection explores the idea of the futuristic woman in the manifestation of her power and strength. The designer was inspired by the Akan warriors and the Dahomey Amazons.

 “Alchemy” collection by Thebe Magugu is about African spirituality and our connection to our ancestors.

Interestingly, in creating this collection, the designer collaborated with Noentla Khumalo, a stylist and traditional healer. She threw her divination tools on the mat: goat knuckles, a police whistle and dice, which Magugu then photographed and abstracted into the print design.

We can also see the connection with spirituality in the collection of Lafalaise Dion. Dion’s embellishments with the cowrie shells are imbued with symbolic meaning. Cowrie shells were once a form of currency in West Africa, a tool used in divination providing and a symbol of fertility and womanhood.

In this article we focused on the trends in African contemporary fashion, but it’s much more than what we’ve told you about it. The «Africa: Fashion» will run until April 16, 2023, and we wish you had time to visit this exhibition because it has a high cultural significance for Africa and for the world as a whole. We are witnessing the rise of Africa on the global fashion and art scene.

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