African designers garnered the much-needed attention by unveiling their high-octane collections for the next season at the just-concluded “Big Four” fashion weeks.
From New York, London, Milan to Paris Fashion Week, these designers showcased bold aesthetics and rich stories of their new ranges displaying a thoughtful engagement with uniquely African themes.
Nigerian-born designer Joy Meribe opened Milan Fashion Week with her debut runway collection, making it a concrete success for a movement to promote diversity in Italian fashion just a year after launching. At New York Fashion Week, designers Omar Salam Creative Director of SUKEINA, and Ghanaian fashion brand Studio 189 led by Abrima Erwiah, revealed their buzzed-about new ranges.
Following the runway success, these African brands are stamping their unique marks and paving the way for a more inclusive future in fashion, one that celebrates and champions African crafts, methods, and designs.
Joy Meribe- RTW
Nigeria/Italy
JOY MERIBE SS 22
Nigeria-born designer Joy Meribe opened Milan Fashion Week with embroidery, asymmetry and fluidity. The Afro-fusion collection featured tiered and ruffled skirts and jackets with built-in capes that were both regal, as seen in an off-shoulder dress sweeping the ground, and hip, including mini day-dresses and shoulder-baring tunic. Textiles were an explosion of bright yellow against an aqua blue, with tropical prints featuring thatched cottages against flourishing banana trees.
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SUKEINA- RTW
Senegal
—HUE—
In Omar Salam’s view, humanity should be a unity of all shades, and the beauty of this concept inspired his SS22 collection. Using predominantly lace material, the Senegalese-born designer created pieces that would give any stylish wardrobe a boost.
Studio 189-RTW
Ghana
Inspired by culture and style, Ghanaian fashion brand Studio 189 led by Abrima Erwiah delivered a marriage of colour, spellbinding prints, and expert craftsmanship on full display at New York Fashion Week.
BLOKE-RTW
Nigeria
HOMECOMING OF THE MASQUERADE
London Fashion Week saw Bloke’s SS22 collection reflect the Agemo masquerades of the designer’s hometown in southwest Nigeria via an array of hand-dyed fabrics and head-to-toe prints with oversized accessories.
Sindiso Khumalo-RTW
South Africa
Sindiso Khumalo SS22
In Milan, South African designer Sindiso Khumalo unveiled an unabashedly feminine sartorial ode to the cultural treasures gathered at Cape Town’s Jagger African Studies Library, which was destroyed last April by a wildfire.
Rich Mnisi-RTW
South Africa
Mafamba Yexe
Rich Mnisi debuted his Spring/Summer 22 collection at Milan Fashion Week. Using fiery colours, experimental silhouettes, and abstract prints, Rich explored and expressed the nuances of African mythology.
According to the designer:
Mafamba Yexe finds its inspiration in a microscopic view of Bumba’s purge, made up of cells that, like so many others, split apart to multiply. Pain on the outside, pain on the inside, discomfort everywhere. From that discomfort, cells made echoes of their own likeness, and Bumba birthed the world. In every world, microscopic and universal, the discomfort was the channel from loneliness to the community. From strangeness to connection, to reflection, and eventually, to self-discovery.
Margaux Wong- Jewellery
Burundi
Joy Collection
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Burundian artisanal luxury jewellery brand showcased their new collection of wearable art pieces during Paris Fashion Week through the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), a program that introduces new designers to an international market.
The brand’s SS22 capsule collection is an ode to one of nature’s most resilient flowers. It features daisy-shaped and abstracted petal-based designs in the brand’s signature horn and brass combination.
Jiamini- Accessories
Kenya
Mung’ung’uti (Spine) 2022
Kenyan accessories brand Jiamini was also showcased at the Paris Fashion Week through EFI, The brand’s Mung’ung’uti collection explores the spine as a compelling organic form, a fundamental structure and a symbol of the backbone of life.
Olubiyi Thomas-RTW
Nigeria
Let it Rain
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During London Fashion Week, Olubiyi Thomas delivered a collection that explored concepts associated with blessings coming down like a downpour, the notion of ‘Sunday Best’, and cultural practices around dressing in the African tradition while probing the contrasts and links between dress rituals in other cultures.
Kenneth Ize-RTW
Nigeria
A New Dawn
Kenneth Ize showcased his SS22 collection at Paris Fashion Week. Kenneth utilized his signature traditional handwoven Asoke fabric created in a factory he set up in Ilorin. The brand’s latest offering featured bright striped suits and plaid jackets, simple maxi dresses with tiger prints, or golden fringe.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are much more African designers that have shown at International fashion weeks this year. Please feel free to add designers that didn’t make this list in the comments section below.