African fashion
Published in Oyster, Australia’s cutting edge fashion magazine
African fashion has come out of the shadows and onto the catwalk, featuring heavily in the collections of many renowned fashion designers. However, native african designers are now making a name for themselves in the fashion world, offering a raw and original alternative to the tribal trend. Helen Jennings writes.
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The Spring/Summer 09/10 catwalks were awash with accents of Africa. Alexander McQueen's kaleidoscopic prints referenced Savannah wildlife and landscapes. African fauna inspired Tsumori Chisato's feather dresses. Diane von Furstenberg offered us delicate beaded accessories and safari shirt dresses. Louis Vuitton teamed grass skirts with wooden jewellery. Junya Watanabe's models wore towering headwear filled with sheaves of flowers, and Vivienne Westwood draped and tied leopard and zebra print fabrics around the body. Yet while these international designers cherry-picked the elements of Africa that took their fancy - it has been a trend for several seasons running - only a precious few African designers have shared the limelight alongside them, until now.
Through a colonial framework, Africa has historically been perceived by the West as the 'outsider'; a savage continent riddled with war, famine and corruption. That backward image is currently crumbling thanks to growing economies in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Ghana, booming industries and major cultural events, most notably the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In short, all eyes are on the continent's huge social and creative potential.
Riding this wave of optimism is the African fashion world. In the past it was not viewed as a viable creative industry worth supporting by big businesses or native governments. It lacked any major fashion weeks or lifestyle media of note, which meant local talent failed to gain international exposure. More serious though, was the fact that poor infrastructure in developing nations hindered designers from manufacturing and transporting garments well enough or fast enough to meet the demands of international buyers. But sure enough, times are changing. Having observed Western designers increasingly pillage the African aesthetic, the continent's designers finally have the means to show them how it's really done.
Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week in February played host to the inaugural Arise African Fashion Collective. It was the first time NYFW had witnessed an entire runway presentation dedicated to African designers. South Africa's Stoned Cherrie, Mali's Xuly Bet and Nigerian designers Tiffany Amber and Momo ruled the runway, which was also graced by black models of the moment Liya Kebede, Alek Wek, Oluchi, Sessilee Lopez and Chanel Iman.
"There is a lot of interest in Africa right now, everyone is coming out with Afroinspired ranges, so it's nice to be representing the African aesthetic in an authentic way," says Stoned Cherrie director Nkhensani Nkosi. Her AutumnlWinter 09/10 collection referenced the bluesy revolutionary spirit of 1950s Sophiatown and one of its sassiest residents, singer Mariam Makeba, via high-waisted pencil skirts, bow blouses and jacquard capes. "I design for a woman who cares about the world, who has a great sense of responsibility and has some kind of connection to Africa," Nkosi adds.
Folake Folarin-Coker of Tiffany Amber reinterprets African influences for her international customers, while simultaneously looking to Western culture to inspire her flowing 1970s-era gowns. "My collection is for the cosmopolitan African woman on holiday. With these clothes she should fit in well anywhere around the world, but there is still an element of ethnicity to the shapes and fabrics," she says. "The world has stopped seeing Africa as a dark continent. Now everybody wants to know what's going on there and what we're all about."
The show also marked the launch of Arise, the first global glossy magazine dedicated to promoting African fashion and culture. The extension of the magazine is Arise Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg (June 12-20), which will be an annual showcase of 50 fashion designers from 20 African countries, hosted in association with African Fashion International (AFI). Big names include Thula Sindi (SA), Jewel by Lisa (Nigeria), Lalesso (Kenya) and David Tlale (SA). "Arise Africa Fashion Week will afford the continent's top fashion designers the opportunity to capitalise on unprecedented world attention," says Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, chairperson of AFI. "The fashion business has been a significant contributor to the gross domestic product of most African countries. In South Africa, the clothing and textile sector typically generates sales of over R18.4 billion ($2.8 billion AUD) per annum. Africa can compete globally by focusing on our abundance of creative talent and unique African signature."
As editor of Arise, I was invited to Nairobi for the Festival for African Fashion and Arts (FAFA) in April, a similar initiative celebrating African fashion. Scottish designer Ann McCreath, who moved to Kenya in 1992 and established her Afro-centric label Kiko Romeo there in 1996, launched FAFA last year. "African fashion is as diverse as the continent so FAFA includes designers from several countries and embraces different concepts of dress," she says ofthe FAFA philosophy. "Our chief designer this year was Ghana's Kofi Ansah. Not only is he an outstanding designer, revolutionising traditional fabrics and techniques, he's also very knowledgeable about the fashion industry and how to take it to another level in Africa."
Ansah's models strode onto the FAFA stage, nestled in the heart of Nairobi's National Park, wearing heavily embellished tribal-print mini skirts, corsets and long cloaks. "I am a pan-Africanist and like to support Africa as much as possible. It is a refreshing change to see something stunning coming out of our continent," says Ansah. A fashion veteran, Ansah studied in London and Paris and founded the Federation of African Designers. He is outspoken on the challenges that have surrounded African fashion. "African governments must continue to help designers by improving production infrastructure and marketing the commercial possibilities of local talent. These are essentials, without them it is hard to get stockists abroad," he says, adding, "Western design houses should also extend a helping hand by forming joint partnerships with us."
Yet it's by working on a small scale that African designers can appeal to international audiences. Tanzanian accessory designer Doreen Mashika, who also showed at FAFA, sources Kenyan Kanga fabrics (squares of brightly printed cloth, sold in pairs and featuring Swahili aphorisms on them) and employs local Maasai women to do the intricate beading on her signature bags and shoes, making the most of the indigenous materials and craftsmanship so desired by Western customers today. "I don't see it as me helping Maasai women; we are working together. I love sharing with them, it's fantastic," she enthuses. "African fashion is aware of international trends and we can compete - but we have to work hard."
Mashika, like many up-and-coming African designers, is fair trade through necessity rather than design, feeding the growing demand for eco-sustainable and ethically produced fashion and making a mark with unique pieces that reveal Africa's forward-thinking identity. "We are entering a time where the world wants to hear directly from African designers and is increasingly less interested in a paraphrased version of what we think is hot," Folake Folarin-Coker concludes. "Hooray for the world market and for the buyers who now want our goods. It's about time, and we are about ready!"
Arise Magazine - www.arisemagazine.net
Festival for African Fashion and Arts (FAFA) - www.fafakenya.org
African Fashion International - www.africanfashioninternational.com