Gold Caviar | Fashion Dancers

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Colors of Africa | Fashion Show

Colors of Africa | Models

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She began her workshop in 1992 and sought to modernize traditional Mandjaque weaving with contemporary colours, patterns and locally-sourced raw materials. Her efforts resulted in sophisticated designs that have been commissioned by well known discerning designers and fashion houses.

Aissa Dione Tissus | Impressions

Representing the culture of West Africa

West Africa consists of the countries located to the south of the Sahara Desert. It has been a flourishing center of trade for gold and salt since ancient times. One of the first kingdoms built here was in 1000 B.C along the Guinea coast by Nok culture. From the 1st century AC to the 3rd century AC, the Ghanaian kingdom flourished in the southeastern region of current Mauritania and western parts of Mali. Until the 16th century, many kingdoms such as the Mali kingdom and Songhai kingdom were founded, flourished, and deceased in the history of West Africa.

The woven textile culture has existed in West Africa from ancient times. It has its roots in the hand-woven textiles of ancient Egypt. The few available records show that there was a tradition of weaving in the Kante culture from around the middle of the 15th century. Hand-woven textiles have been used for ceremonies and are considered a spiritual object. These textiles were woven by only a select group of people hence, they were precious as such, and were used as money, and as a representation of wealth.

In Senegal, there has been hand-woven textile tradition in Manjack people who emigrated from Guinea-Bissau. 27 years ago, a French and Senegalese artist and designer, Aissa Dione, who exists at the crossroad of two cultures, started a workshop with one of the last remaining groups of these craftsmen and a single hand-weaving machine of Manjack weaving; thereby creating Aissa Dione Tissus.

Fabrics

She has applied the technical knowledge she acquired through her study in fine art to the traditional hand weaving. Working along with these craftsmen, she widened the width of the textile, which was traditionally only 15cm – 20cm, to 90cm -140cm to make it commercially viable.

In addition, she adopted a sophisticated color palette and developed newer patterns for the textile, while improving the quality of the traditional raw materials such as cotton and raffia. All of this, mixed with her innate artistic sense and design knowledge now gave the Manjack weaving an added nobility, brightness, and opulence. This propelled Manjack weaving to new heights of success as a textile for decoration and furniture upholstery.

Impressions II

Aissa Dione Tissus has today grown to be a largely successful atelier, with about 40 machines, 80 people on staff, and has received orders from the likes of Hermès, Fendi Casa, and other renowned designers like Jacques Grange, Christian Liaigre, Peter Marino. Nowadays in Africa, where these fabrics were imported, it shows that the continent is rich in materials, the know-how of textiles. Aissa Dione Tissus utilizes the best materials, the skills, and knowledge that is originally from West Africa, while at the same time being to adapt to the industrialized nature of the Western world. Aissa Dione’s vast knowledge of the local textile industry and her ability to collaborate with a large number of notable artists from around the world have created new designs that have led Aissa Dione Tissus to be one of the few real success stories from Senegal.

That said, the hand-weaving tradition has been steadily decreasing for a number of years. Aissa Dione has been actively working with the government of Burkina Faso and Togo to develop and save the existing weaving cultures by creating sophisticated designs, improving quality, and training the weavers in order to propel those traditional weaving arts to the heights of textile for the commercial use while maintaining the uniqueness which each culture has.

Saving an ancient craft

Aissa Dione | TEDx Sandaga

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afrolifestyle: These beautiful and unique pieces of jewellery that you design using collectible African trade and tribal beads have had a long history and have travelled long ways. Your own personal history has been shaped by extensive travelling and living in many countries in Europe and Africa. You have changed continents and swapped careers. Your cultural and professional background is eclectic and multifaceted. Could you tell us more about it?

DS: Yes, I have lived a life of a modern nomad, on a permanent move and immersing myself in different geopolitical realities and cultures. I was born in ex-Yugoslavia, in a multicultural environment of the town of Sarajevo, today’s capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a student, I moved to Paris where I got a Ph.D. in comparative literature and then started working as a university teacher. The first career change happened when I joined an international press network to become a deputy editor-in-chief.
Later on I lived in The Hague and Berlin, and then in Brussels, where I attended a film school because I wanted to make documentary films. After that, I spent seven years living in Rwanda and in Senegal, extensively travelling in many countries of the region, writing and making documentary films. And also collecting trade beads and designing jewellery! Which I continue doing today, in Berlin.

How did you first discover African trade beads?

DS: Oh, it’s a long story! Twenty years ago I was on a business trip in Morocco and took a day off to explore the legendary souk of Marrakesh. And there, in its Ali Baba’s Cave ambience, at the end of the enchanted labyrinth of crowded pathways, I suddenly spotted a discrete shop window with the most exquisite jewellery. It was made of beads whose beauty was beyond anything I had seen before. To enter the tiny shop one had to ring a bell, like in the most exclusive jewellery shops of Place Vendôme. The door opened, I walked in and got initiated into the fascinating world of African trade beads.
I will never forget the shop owners, fairy-tale like figures: two lean old men with long white beards, wearing djellabas and fezzes. With an almost religious zeal, they showed me their magnificent collection of antique jewellery pieces. When I admitted being astonished by their exorbitant prices, so unusual for the souk standards, the two bead “wizards” just shook their heads in bewilderment and grasped for some big, heavy books from the dusty shelves. They turned out to be African Trade Beads Encyclopaedias and Atlases with beautiful photos of these marvellous tiny artefacts they had in their shop. They showed me one bead after the other and explained their origin and value they had as currency used all over the African continent.

Can you tell us more about the history of African trade beads and their role in Africa?

DS: In the 15th century, Portuguese traders introduced glass beads as currency to purchase valuable goods on the West African coast. Other European traders followed and this currency was used until the early 20^th century. Consequently, trade beads continued to be produced throughout Europe. Although Venetians dominated the production, Czech, Dutch and German beads were also very much in demand.  An infinite variety of African trade beads, often designed to satisfy the local taste, continue to astonish and seduce us today due to their beauty, artistic quality and degree of sophistication and finesse. 

Apart from their decorative value, the beads have a deep symbolic meaning, which can explain their great success as currency on the African continent.  They were worn by men and women to indicate their social status and proudly exhibited at many celebrations and rituals. They defined the cultural identity of different ethnic groups and accompanied crucial life events, such as childbirth, marriage, coming of age, and passing away.  

When did you start collecting the beads? How did you find them?

DS: I started looking for the beads and collecting them when I moved to Africa and it was not an easy endeavour. At the same time, I was collecting specialised literature to study the beads in order to be able to recognise them and estimate their age and value. African trade beads have been carefully preserved as family treasures transmitted from generation to generation. Nowadays, they are getting more and more rare and difficult to find. I got to know some passionate collectors who put me in touch with bead merchants. I was also systematically scrutinising many African markets and every now and then I was lucky enough to come upon an unexpected treasure hidden among trifles.

But how did a bead collector turn into a jewellery designer?

DS: The timeless beauty and mystery of these ancestral beads irresistibly inspired me to use them as precious raw material for my creations. Each genuine hand-made bead used in Déesse by DS pieces is a unique miniature work of art with its own story and its secrets. For me it was like answering the calling of the beads themselves to be assembled together in a very particular and unique way in order to give them a new life. Centuries old and still young, these beads have travelled between lands and continents. They have been admired, desired, purchased, exchanged and worn by hundreds of women and men. And now they have become something entirely new in the hands of a contemporary designer.  

What is the philosophy behind your brand?

DS: More than an exclusive fashion object, every Déesse by DS piece is a symbolic journey through time and space, a tribute to all never-to-be-known artists who produced the beads and all never-to-be-met persons who enjoyed their beauty and meaning. I juxtapose antique and ancient with vintage and modern elements in playful compositions with the intention to create audacious fusion pieces of jewellery, which are at the same time fashion and collectors’ items.

afrolifestyle: Thank you for the interview.

Déesse by DS jewellery combines ethnic spirit and urban sophistication, old-fashioned glamour and ultramodern chic, into highly symbolic wearable art objects. 

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• Ozwald Boateng moves like no other in the field of modern tailoring; combining classical British flavor with African lifestyle. In 1994 he presented his first fashion show in Paris as the first tailor ever to present in Paris.

ARISE Fashion Week

Lagos 2018 | impressions

Ozwald Boateng was born in London in 1967. He grew up in London with his parents who came from Ghana. His mother worked as a seamstress and made him sew. Fascinated by his father’s immaculate suits, the young Ozwald received his first own suit at the age of five. He was inspired by the classical British tailoring. At the age of fourteen, he took a summer job sewing linings into suits.

Later, during his computer science studies, his girlfriend at the time took him to design, so he switched to fashion and design studies.  When he helped a friend to design clothes, he received great encouragement for his work and began selling his own creations to a menswear shop in Covent Garden.

In his early twenties, and having dressed celebrities such as Mick Jagger, Jimmy Paige and Spike Lee, Ozwald Boateng set up a design studio on London’s famous Portobello Road, where he would start a journey that would see him change the course of men’s fashion and become one of the most recognisable names in the industry.

In 1994 he presented his first fashion show in Paris as the first tailor ever to present in Paris. 

Road To Paris 1994 | Short Film

After the show was a huge success, Tommy Nutter encouraged him to open his first boutique on Saville Row in 1995. Boateng’s contemporary menswear designs helped Saville Row reach out to the younger demographic.

In 2003 the first women’s fragrance was launched, consisting of two separate fragrances that could be worn together or separately. A year later, Boateng became the new creative director for menswear at Givenchy until 2007.

In 2005 the Victoria and Albert Museum in London honored Boateng’s work with a retrospective exhibition of his designs.

Tailor to the Stars

In 2008 another flagship store and headquarters opened on Saville Row. Boateng reinterprets British sewing art and adds modern and fresh elements to his excellent and luxurious designs.

Boateng designed and orchestrated a show at the 9^th Annual African Summit in Accra which coincided with cessation of the 200 year old transatlantic slave trade and Ghana’s fifty years of independence.

Boateng is also a famous costume designer having designed costumes for box office hits like Sex and the city, Hannibal, The Matrix, Oceans 13, Tomorrow Never Dies, Ugly Betty and Rush Hour 3.

Apollo Theater | Harlem 2018

In 2018 he launched his first-ever womenswear in the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem with the packed auditorium helping the venue to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance as well as Boateng’s move into a new category.

The runway was a mix of men’s and women’s looks for a collection that was in many ways a world away from traditional British tailoring as color and African-inspired print were the key takeaways.

Ozwald Boateng | Arise Fashion Week 2018

Ozwald Boateng moves like no other in the field of modern tailoring; combining classical British flavor with African lifestyle

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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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The brainchild behind Fashion Africa 254 and the Mtindo Book is former Top Model Waridi Wardah.

FA254

Fashion Africa 254 created the first international scouting contest targeting emerging African fashion designers titled “African Designers for Tomorrow “(ADFT).  The contest’s objective is to discover new talent, support their development and production process, and prepare and present them to the European fashion market.

@ FA254

afrolifestyle: Hello Waridi, great to have you at afrolifetsyle. Could you please briefly introduce yourself. 

Waridi: Hello, my name is Waridi-Wardah. Waridi is my Swahili name and Wardah is Arabic. I was born in Kenya, but my roots originate in the Arabic part of South Yemen and the Nandi tribe. My whole family still lives in Kenya, and I have been based in Berlin since 1993. At the age of twenty-one, I left my home in Kenya to become a model. I went straight to London, New York, and ended up in Germany. 

What is it all about?

afrolifestyle: You are the CEO of the Berlin-based Fashion Office FA254. What is it all about?

Waridi:  FA245 stands for Fashion Africa, and 2 is the code that connects the 54 countries on the continent; although, I was notified that the continent now has 55 countries. My purpose is to show the other side of Africa, as the other side of the coin, the vibrancy, the talent, and the creativity with ambition.

We want to be door openers for the African industry and to create awareness of who we are. We work with the gaps in the market that we identify. For example, when we started, there was a gap with African fashion designers; basically, the gap of not being fully trained from A-Z with skills or all about Business of Fashion. A lot of African creatives are self-taught.

There are universities, and Africans are highly educated, but only one or two fashion schools exist in Africa. Often, when one is self-taught there are some skills missing. The first concept of FA254 was how to merge African designers into the German market. Since 2008, I started working and being involved with African designers and different initiatives in Kenya and Germany as a representative of African fashion for both sides.

afrolifestyle: As a successful fashion model, you worked with big names of the global fashion industry. What were your most significant encounters?

Waridi: The models themselves. Watching who they are and understanding what the industry is about. I was fascinated with the materials and textiles the designers were using which defined who they were and for myself to imagine what was behind the glamour.

afrolifestyle: FA254 is working with NGOs and fashion companies connecting fashion executives and experts in Europe and Africa. What does knowledge transfer mean to you?

Waridi: For me, knowledge transfer is the key to understanding each other and understanding different cultures. The designers learned a lot. It’s all about changing minds. And now, after ten years of seeing that the fashion designers have reached so far, the situation has reversed. People in Europe need to learn more about Africa to better understand fashion and lifestyle trends on the continent. Transferring knowledge means opening up your mind to understand the other’s mind.

afrolifestyle: What were your most significant challenges so far?

Waridi: My most significant challenges so far were believing, accepting, and trusting. I think when people work together, they have to understand the relationship. FA254’s strength is that we invest in people, and to be successful, we need to stay humble. As a human being, I realized that we all have a lot to learn, individuals, companies, and institutions. Institutions have their agendas, and nowadays, they see the need to understand the people’s agenda. It’s always a challenge. 

Mtindo Book

afrolifestyle: You are also the author of the Mtindo book “Rebranding Africa“. What was the initial idea?

Waridi: Mtindo in Swahili means style. But then again, style to every individual has its meaning. I wanted to create a movement and to continue making conversations about changing minds. The Mtindo photo book is representing the movement of millions of African style movers. They are rebranding the continent with their creative power. Millions of Africans are making Africa be seen as Africa has always been.

afrolifcestyle: With whom did you work to realize this wonderful book about fashion and lifestyle in Africa?

Waridi: First of all, I had a fantastic team at FA254. For instance, Milan-based Ingrid Tamborin who now has her own scouting agency, Emilia Torres, who has her own brand made in Columbia, and the magical and award-winning Italian photographer Daniele Tamagni. Daniele loved Africa. I chose him, knowing he would transfer the concept into the movement through his artistic photography style.

Besides the statements in the book, photography is what defines this movement and what touches people. The freshness, the rawness, and the vibrancy. I describe Africa as a raw apple ready to be eaten.

The book was never planned to be colourful, Daniele captured the scene by looking around, taking pictures, and being in the flow with the people and the surroundings. There was no convincing him to join our journey. He captured my concept no doubt. He loved the conversation we are putting out. Each personality mentioned in the book chose their location for the shooting to also add their views. The concept was to show Africa, highlight its beauty, and bring awareness to its changes.

Mtindo Exhibition

Mtindo Exhibition | Luisa Catuci Gallery | Berlin Nov. 2021

afrolifestyle: African businesswomen are getting more important for the continent. Is diversity in Africa a topic for FA254?

Waridi: FA245 itself is diverse.

afrolifestyle: What is your vision regarding the African fashion industry?

Waridi: Each African country can be independent in fashion, like how “made in Italy” is independent of Europe; it depends on itself. The Nigerian fashion industry is like that. The Nigerians like to wear clothes designed by Nigerian designers, so this movement should be an example to all African countries. “Think globally and work locally.”

afrolifestyle: As a businesswoman with African roots, what would you like to share with afrolifestyle?

Waridi: I would like to share who I am in order to inspire others.

afrolifestyle: Thank you Waridi for your time. It has been a pleasure having you for the interview.

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Fashion and the uncomplicated enjoyment of a quick meal – probably two of the most indispensable things of our time that could not be more different. Maki Osakwe, Nigerian designer and founder of the fashion label Maki Oh, united these two themes in her Spring/Summer 2019 collection by taking memories of her home country for inspiration and translate it into the language of fashion.

After taking a break from New York Fashion Week, Maki Oh designer Amaka Osakwe is back in town. With her distinctive take on artisanal Nigerian fabrics, the Lagos designer has amassed a small but highly engaged fan base. In her time off, Osakwe found some much-needed headspace. She began to see the wants and needs of the globally minded, artistically inclined women who wear her clothes with fresh eyes.

Womanism

After studying fashion studies at Arts University Bournemouth, Amaka “Maki” Osakwe launched her own label Maki Oh in 2010. In 2012 the designer was discovered in the US fashion scene. As one of a few African designers, she has presented her fashion regularly at New York Fashion Week. International stars like Beyoncé and Rihanna, as well as the style icon and former first lady of the US, Michelle Obama, are wearing the fashion of Maki Oh. International magazines such as the New York Times, Business of Fashion, Vogue and many more report about the designer. The fashion label shows strong cultural Identity and uses its designs as a channel for direct communication and telling stories that are shaped by cultural ties. The designer sees herself as a follower of the “Womanism”, not to be mixed up with the more common term of feminism. Dark-skinned women can often identify more with womanism, since the movement does not only deal with female equality but also with ethnic discrimination.

Traditional African elements with western silhouettes

Maki Oh stands for the combination of traditional african elements with western silhouettes, which is also evident in the “Buka Special” collection from spring 2019. Not only the chosen models but also the recurring prints that are hand-dyed with indigo colours refer to the traditional background and have a deeper meaning. These prints can be interpreted as the recognizable theme in all of Maki’s collections. Osakwe’s philosophy gives a look on classic ideals of beauty and at the same time a construct of responsibility, strength, and maintaining culture to create a complex simplicity in her looks.

The inspiration for the collection comes from Osakwe’s hometown. The so-called Bukas are small takeaway restaurants where you meet to spend the evening together. They are usually only run by women. Osakwe wants to show the strength of these women, who live in precarious positions, in her collection. The chosen materials and the design of the clothes through knots and gathers are allusions to the packaging techniques of the restaurants. Elements such as a slipdress in silk are worn with casual shirts combined with sporty sandals. Thereby acquire the necessary coolness factor and a fashionable simplicity. Statements on shirts like “Fresh Fish” create the connection between African street food and seem to be striking. The designer plays with cutouts and transparency to allow the skin to show up without making their creations too sexy.

She combines provocative elements with casual cuts and creates a balance between simple elegance and convenience. The collection deals with the dissolution of gender boundaries which is still a taboo topic in Nigeria today. By using divergent model types, such as Richie Shazam, who classifies himself as nonbinary, Maki Oh inserts more diversity and acceptance into the fashion industry.

African traditions + modern cuts

Maki Oh makes important statements on highly topical issues and draws attention to the life in Nigeria by referring to her cultural background. The label creates a mix of African traditions with the help of modern cuts interesting for the western world and gives the consumers an insight into the beauty of Africa. Because of her success at New York Fashion Week and the presence in international fashion magazines, Maki Osakwe reaches and appeals to a wide audience to transport her message to the world. “It was important for me to celebrate the full spectrum of society — after all, we all breathe the same air, eat the same food. ” – an important concept, that we should all become aware of.

MAKI OH @MONDO 2017 | POPDRUM | Music Party

collaboration with MD.H Berlin | www.mediadesign.de | fashion news by Alea Schonhardt and Meike Schallock

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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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