The fashion label Joray Fashion was founded in 2006 by fashion designer Joannah Kebirungi Menke in Mbarara, Uganda. Normally, African fashion for me is something my parents buy and wear to church on Sunday. In recent years, with the hype around Afro Beat, successful bloggers from the Diaspora and music videos, young people have become much more interested in fashion and beauty from Africa.

The vision of Joannah Kebirungi Menke is to combine African fabrics and elegant designs into a unique fashion, invigorating the fashion world with intense colors and new patterns.

The African fashion label Joray Fashions was founded by the fashion designer Joannah Kebirungi Menke in 2006 in Mbarara, Uganda.

Joannah Kebirungi Menke was born in a small village in western Uganda in East Africa. To fulfill her dream of having her own fashion label, she learned tailoring after graduation and founded the fashion label Joray Fashions. She dared a new beginning with her fashion label in 2017 in Berlin.

The Roots

Joannah Kebirungi Menke’s vision is to combine African fabrics and elegant designs to create a unique African fashion, revitalising the fashion world with the intense colours and new patterns of African fabrics.

Joray Fashions Shoes

In 2017, she ventured a new start in Berlin with her fashion label. Joray Fashions often uses wax print fabrics to create beautiful and elegant long dresses and shirts that almost sweep the floor. These pieces even go well with any high fashion event.”

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Kenneth Ize’s name is on everyone’s lips. The Nigerian fashion designer and finalist for this year’s prestigious LVMH Prize, whose pieces have been worn by Naomi Campbell and Donald Glover, is giving a luxury finish to local artisanal aesthetics, rendering them desirable for high-end markets both at home and abroad. Born in Lagos, Kenneth Ize is using his cross-cultural experiences to produce new contemporary forms in the Nigerian fashion industry. The designer received his fashion and design diploma in 2015, at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, under Hussein Chalayan.

In this same year, Izedonmwen also received the Fred Adlmüller scholarship during his graduation show. Kenneth officially launched his fashion brand in Lagos in 2013, immediately after his 3 years in university in which Bernhard Wilhelm headed the fashion department.

The African fashion industry is rising

His knowledge and diverse experience – from assisting Edun to Asher Levine in New York – has flourished Kenneth into a talented creator. He is utilising his international expertise to contribute to an emerging Nigerian fashion industry, being recognised as a key player during Lagos fashion and design week for three consecutive years.

“The African fashion industry is rising due largely to personal stories that are uniquely narrated to create a space for diversity and culture, most of this can be seen in local craftmanship and hand made techniques.”

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At just 25 years old, South African fashion designer Thebe Magugu can already boast about having one of his creations in the permanent collection of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. The piece, a faux ostrich coat, entered the collection after featuring in the F.I.T.’s 2018 exhibition “Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color.”

Last year, Magugu was described as “the leader of his generation” by the judging panel of London’s International Fashion Showcase, where he was crowned winning designer. 

What do you look to communicate as a designer?

My goal is to create clothes that merge my South African heritage with contemporary shapes and proportions. I come from a very rich culture: there’s a lot of beadwork, a lot of craft. I want to merge these references with my global outlook. It’s a project that reflects a more authentic Africa, one that recognizes that we are forward-looking, open to the world.

What kinds of cuts or fabrics do you favor?

I do a lot of pleating and printing, so I use fabrics that are receptive to that. But I also love juxtapositions: merging fabrics that don’t necessarily go together, or in an unexpected way.

I think people tend to have set ideas about African design. But we are so much more experimental in our proportions and cuts than people realize, and I want my work to reflect that.

(Interview by Rebecca Appel, CNNLondon)

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Christine Mhando graduated from Kent University with an honours degree, in 2002. After her studies, Mhando gained invaluable experience working for high-end designers as well as womenswear brands and suppliers for the high-street Mecca. With the knowledge she acquired, Tanzanian-born Mhando launched the label that bears her childhood nickname, Chichia in 2007.

Chichia London is a one of a kind label bringing this “New African Fashion.” As a recognized international African fashion designer, Mhando has developed an interesting, smart and mature signature. What could have been a contradictory blend of traditional and modern style became a standard in African fashion, as designers constantly continue to investigate its unlimited possibilities.

eye-catching colourful prints in natural fabrics

traditional east African cotton printed fabric

The Chichia ready to wear range is an amalgamation of both continents and cultures from which the designer was born and raised. The label’s signature transpires from the artful application of the “Khanga”, a traditional east African cotton printed fabric used by local women as wraps.

The first Chichia collection was sold in London’s famous home of independent designers Laden Showroom quickly earning the label commercial success. Each collection consists of an eclectic range of dresses and separates in modern wearable silhouettes and styles in a variety of succulent colours. Chichia’s intelligent use of eye-catching colourful prints in natural fabrics intermixed with beautiful embellishments and intricate detailing makes every piece uniquely innovative and a timeless addition to anyone’s wardrobe.

Stocked in independent boutiques across the world and online, Chichia has gained a cult following on the online blog circuit as well as extensive press attention in distinguished publications such as Grazia, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and Vogue Italia. All have warranted Chichia a place at London Fashion Week showcasing in fashion events such as Untold and Fashion Diversity, as well as other prestigious events across the world including ARISE Magazine fashion week 2011 in Lagos, Urban Outfitters BAZAAAAR Pop Up in New York and Labo Ethnik Fashion Weekend 2013 in Paris, to name but a few.

In 2013 she was featured on Vogue Italia Talents, it is understandable why her inspired use of colour and print has warranted the Chichia label with a growing celebrity following. With fans including Beyonce, Chichia is fastly becoming recognised as an international African brand that modernises and transforms traditional East African textiles into stylish, contemporary and considered fashionable attire.

Chichia London (S/S 2014)

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