African fashion in the spotlight

[On the cover: Models holding hands, Lagos, Nigeria, 2019 by Stephen Tayo. Courtesy Lagos Fashion Week]

A source of inspiration due to its creativity and vitality, African fashion is hosted at the Victoria & Albert Museum in an exhibition entitled Africa Fashion which collects over 250 themed objects. Many garments belong to the personal archives, dating back to the mid-twentieth century, of some designers who have made their mark on African fashion – Shade Thomas-Fahm, Chris Seydou, Kofi Ansah and Alphadi – and of other contemporary designers including Imane Ayissi, IAMISIGO, Moshions, Thebe Magugu, and Sindiso Khumalo. The exhibition, which includes garments, fabrics, drawings, photos, films, and catwalk footage, presents African fashion as a well-defined art form and reveals the richness and diversity of the histories and cultures of such a vast continent. Fashion, together with music and the visual arts, has been an important element in the African cultural renaissance, laying the foundations for the vitality of the new generation of designers and photographers who live and work in Africa. In fact, one section is dedicated to the African Cultural Renaissance, the period from mid-1950 to 1994, years of political and social reorganisation, which pushed creativity into various forms of art. The exhibition is accompanied by a rich public programme that includes meetings, events, and musical performances.

MAXHOSA AFRICA, IAMISIGO, Imane Ayissi