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| Marie Claire South Africa December 2011 photographed by Ross Garrett |
Lately there has been a lot of buzz around Africa becoming
the next continent after Asia to influence fashion in a major way. And, it just
so happens that as I’m writing this post I’ve just locked down plans to take a
trip to Luanda, Angola at the end of the year! Excited doesn’t even cover how
happy I am to be taking a trip to the African continent. I’m going for a friend
from college’s wedding so I am excited to share that memory with her, but I am
an avid jet setter so being able to add another stamp to my passport makes it
that much more exciting!
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| Spring 2014 Valentino Ad, inspired by North Africa |
The Northern African countries (Morocco, Egypt,
Tunisia) have influenced fashion for many years because of their textiles,
colors, and architecture the industry has always had an affinity for the
region’s tastes. Now more regions are becoming areas of influence because of
their manufacturing capabilities, style, and collaborations with the American
and European fashion media and brands.
Manufacturing
For many years stores such as H & M and Zara have
sourced material and manufactured goods in Ethiopia and Morocco. The benefits
to being a sourcing hub goes beyond just providing fashion for brands, but can
be the catalyst for a country to get out of poverty. Factories provide jobs for
people that do not have access to education and advanced career opportunities. Factories
can be used to provide clothing for the country itself and allows for diversity
in the sourcing market. Asia, China especially, is becoming so oversaturated
with the entire retail industry manufacturing goods there it’s necessary for
other regions to become skilled in manufacturing clothing to help keep costs
down and not have too much dependence on one region to manufacture the majority
of the world’s merchandise.
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| Elle South Africa, January 2013 |
Style
Each country in Africa has its own style that’s a mix
of the heritage, natural resources, and culture of the region. In Nigeria,
which hosts an annual fashion week to showcase the work of Nigerian fashion
designers, designs are very structured with peplums, big shoulders, nipped in
waists with lots of colors. In Morocco the fashion is loose, colorful, and
usually infuses jewelry and embroidery into the looks. In Angola, the fashion
is more sensual, feminine, and playful in soft colors in styles that accentuate
the curves or show off the legs. Publications such as Arise Magazine and New
African Woman focus on the fashion and lifestyle of African women. These
magazines shed a light on the culture and beauty of African women in a way that
is fun, vibrant, and well put together.
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| 2013 Diesel and Edun Collaboration |
Collaborations
In February of this year Cosmopolitan Magazine created
a website specifically for its Nigerian audience, Cosmopolitan.ng. An editorial
team in Lagos and Nigerian blogger, Yemisi Odusanya, run the site. Still
serving the content Cosmo is known for beauty tips, tips from sex experts, and
fashion all written to appeal to Nigerian women. Something unique about African
brands and collaborations is because there is a great amount of poverty in
African countries many of the profits from sales are used to help raise
awareness or support people who are in need. For example, last year Vans and
its Ghanaian counterpart Della created a capsule collection of shoes. There
were six items and the purpose of the collaboration was to use all ethically
sourced fabrics and provide work for local manufacturers. Also in a way to show
the industry the sourcing capabilities of Africa fashion brands Edun and Diesel
collaborated on a capsule collection that was made from Ugandan cotton and
manufactured completely in Africa.
Over the past few years it has become increasingly
clear that Africa is stepping up to play a major role in the global fashion
industry from sourcing fabrics to manufacturing, and hosting fashion events.
Fashion is all about moving forward and finding the next great thing and it
seems Africa is definitely on the industry’s radar.
