Fashion in Africa – Attending Warwick Africa Summit 2019
Photo by Dazzle Jam from Pexels
After a couple days spent listening to wonderful conversations about the place and the possible developments of Africa in modern society, I decided to give you my outlook on this (as I always do) and bring a little of my fashion perspective as well.
Warwick Africa Summit held its 3rd edition at the University of Warwick last week end. The theme was “Daima Mbele” – translated into english as “We move forward”, and touched on questions about the development and growth of Africa, as well as the issues it faces every day in a global perspective.
One of the discussions that came about in the second day concerned the place of cultural developments, and how African arts as a whole were perceived and the ways in which it could thrive – as well as the many, many obstacles that came in its way.
Last week, we discussed the usefulness of fashion out here, in the west. I think this week’s topic relates to this as well. Fashion forms part of what we call “soft power” – the persuasive powers of art are used to implement a state’s values and principles, in a lucrative way that lets you believe you are not being influenced, when in reality you’ll soon want to become part of this culture. It is something that the Americans have mastered - I mean I grew up dreaming of becoming Andy in the Devil wears Prada and, at times, Hannah Montana as well.
The way fashion works in the west is as follows - through expensive everything and dream like productions, the industry fabricates an ideal image of what people would want their lives to be. Instagram is now the biggest platform where this is advertised, and that has its own problems, but the facts remain; they make you want to have that “Chilling in Bali with my friends and my newest Fabletics legging” sort of vibe. But I digress.
Credits to EA Regional Cotton Fashion Show, Design by Clarke for the picture. Click for image website.
The question of Fashion in Africa is important, first because it is representative of how the West constantly steals products and content from the continent, and is also a proof of how much we, as the West, have to learn from Africa.
The biggest cultural scene in the continent is probably found in Nigeria, a very creative country in which every form of art interacts with the other. Eniafe Momodu, Nigerian Creative director, photographer and all around content creator, explains this quite well:
“Everyone is interacting. That’s the future of the industry. ”
After listening to Eniafe’s talk during the Summit, a couple a of things left me wondering – why do we keep closing ourselves to this industry that clearly could bring a lot of positiveness in its own way? Why do we not respect and admire the culture instead of stealing from it and appropriating it?
As recently as during the last biggest fashion weeks of the World (New York, Paris, London and Milan), major brands from the west presented designs that were outwardly stolen from African culture.
Yes, I'm looking at you Maria Grazia Chiuri – copying prints and selling them at a price the people you stole from couldn’t afford is called cultural appropriation and also violates a couple of Intellectual Property, but you probably won’t be held accountable thanks to (of because of) your white privilege.
Christian Dior Spring 2019, Designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri. Credits for picture: Vogue Runway. Click the image for website.
And she is not the first one to be guilty of this crime – Louis Vuitton stole the prints traditionally worn by the Masai Tribes of Kenya (shuka), while Stella McCartney even indulged in a bit of appropriation herself. The problem was made worse by the fact that only one model in her show was of African descent, and that there was no attention paid to the fact that these designs didn’t stem from her imagination, but from the traditions and culture of countries that were far, far away from her mind.
Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring 2012. Credits to Vogue Runway for the picture. Click the image for website.
Stella McCartney, Spring Summer 2018 Collection. Credits: Imaxtree
Despite all this unfairness, the African Fashion Scene is rising. Recently, Naomi Campbell participated in Lagos Fashion Week, a major fashion event in Nigeria, and declared that she wanted “Vogue Africa” to see the light one day. Now this is all well and good, but why is it not happening ?
It’s definitely not due to a lack of talent from African designers. While doing my research, I came across many, many brands that bring the fresh look we have all been missing in the West, and truly bring about a different vision that everyone can appreciate and respect.
As Eniafe Momodu pointed out during his presentation, brands like VIVENDII and Native Mag have gone through major collaborations with brands like Nike and Off-White. The New York times has recently written about how the African fashion scene is emerging, and as such, should be taken seriously. But Momodu argues the success of these brands isn’t due to their presence in the West’s press – it is because the raw talent of African countries on the cultural side of things has pushed through, and people everywhere are catching up.
“Our own people Started celebrating the Nigerian creative industry. We took charge of the narrative.”
596 Likes, 1 Comments - VIVENDII (@vivendii) on Instagram: "THE GAME IS THE GAME © F/W DROP 1 🌡 ONLINE NOW modusvivendii.com"
So why is this huge fashion industry being overlooked, then?
Well, it might be due to a lack of unification. In Nigeria alone, there are 3 different fashion weeks – and some of them can last only two days. There are fashion weeks all over Africa, one in South Africa, one in Kenya etc. They can, at times, overlap, creating a confusion and leaving the clients to decide which one they would attend instead of travelling around to show face at all of them like it is done in the west. There is definitely an argument to be made for that – if we compare it to Paris and the French fashion scene, this is exactly what happened – the creation of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne has made it possible for calendars and updates to be published about the Parisian fashion week, so that every blogger and model could participate to as many shows as possible.
The summit that was held in Warwick personally opened my eyes on a lot of these matters. I started talking about African Fashion when my Kenyan Flatmate showed me some of the designs he’d had made for him back home - you know, after I spent days complimenting the seams and the prints. He advised me to look into it more, because Africa had a lot to offer - and I wasn’t disappointed. These are exciting times for Africa, as it is getting rid gradually of all the obstacles the west has imposed upon the different countries the continent is made out of. How that will happen remains a complicated matter, but I can’t say that I’m not excited for the next generations of African fashion lovers that will one day decided to stop stealing, and start respecting. On that note, here are a couple people from the African fashion scene that I think you’ll find as inspiring as I do.
The Nigerian London based designer has seen its design worn by no less than Michele Obama and Solange Knowles. The variety of prints and colours itself make for a truly inspiring brand image that will make you want to move to Africa.
Lamic Kirabo
550 Likes, 10 Comments - Lamic Kirabo (@lamickirabo) on Instagram: "The Boho girl in me will always find a way to come through ✨✨✨✨ @plahta.com.ua ❤️❤️ . . . . . . . ...."
643 Likes, 4 Comments - PICHULIK (@pichulikafrica) on Instagram: "Theodora neckpiece + Sirene earrings ! Hand embellished in our studio in #capetown! #shoponline"
This South African jewelry brand is purely ethical - everything is handcrafted (and absolutely wonderful).
AFUA RIDA
1,555 Likes, 15 Comments - Afua Rida (@afuarida) on Instagram: "Cheers 🥂 my friends to great moments! Where @moetchandon meets @elom_fiagbe meets @bijough..."
These African bloggers have some of the coolest styles I have seen - and will prove to you that the west’s way of describing beauty is a tragic error.
Special thanks to: Eniafe Momodu, for letting me quote him on a couple of things and giving an insightful perspective necessary to this article, and Joseph Gitata, for inviting me to the summit and making sure I follow my fashion dreams.
This article is only available in English, as I believe some of the messages wouldn’t have gone through properly en Français. I hope you liked it nonetheless, and that you can tell me everything you are thinking right now underneath in the comments box! You can also sign up to my newsletter (it will come out every week, no spamming I promise), and follow me on instagram for my latest updates.
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