Hair Culture in West Africa: A Historical and Modern Perspective

Hair Culture in West Africa: A Historical and Modern Perspective IMG 1072

Editor’s Note: This feature is part of Guzangs’ ongoing exploration of African hair traditions, tracing their evolution from spiritual practice to global artistry. This installment focuses on West Africa, following Part I, which explored North African hair traditions. Hair in West African cities like Lagos, Accra, Dakar, and Lomé has long been a profound symbol […]

Woven Histories: A Series on African Hair

Black-and-white photograph of Amazigh women from Morocco, their long braids decorated with charms and beads, wearing traditional garments.

A three-part Guzangs series on African hair: how it has been styled, what it has signified, and how those traditions are evolving region by region. Hair across Africa has long carried lineage, spirituality, and social standing. Woven Histories traces that record across three regions, beginning in the Maghreb and ending in East and Southern Africa. […]

In the Time of Silk: Bolé Dakar’s Rebellion Against Waste

In the Time of Silk: Bolé Dakar's Rebellion Against Waste IMG 9839

Luxury is not always new. Sometimes it is the silken whisper of a scarf once worn by a grandmother. Sometimes it is a talisman fashioned from a lover’s forgotten tie, reborn as a necklace that rests close to the heart. This is the world of Bolé Dakar, a brand that refuses the disposable tempo of […]

NYFW SS26 Trends to Watch and How They Could Translate in Lagos and Dakar

NYFW SS26 Trends to Watch and How They Could Translate in Lagos and Dakar IMG 2479

New York set the tone this month—craft got louder, tailoring relaxed, and street codes sharpened. With Lagos Fashion Week locked for Oct 29–Nov 2, 2025 and Dakar Fashion Week slated for Dec 3–7, 2025, here’s what emerged from NYFW and how it might translate on the continent in the coming weeks. Craft with muscle (Diotima) […]

Big Four vs Africa: Fashion Week’s Contrasting Realities

Big Four vs Africa: Fashion Week’s Contrasting Realities BAR 300 1

Fashion weeks have always been about more than the clothes. Yes, they’re displays of style, but they’re also where global trends are born, where billions of dollars change hands, and where designers make statements that ripple far beyond the runway. A single collection can spark conversations about politics, identity, or sustainability. In Lagos or Paris, […]

How African Music Conquered the World (and Why It’s Just Getting Started)

Nigerian artist Burna Boy on stage at Untold Festival, August 2024, pointing to the crowd during a global performance.

  African music has always transcended mere sound. It is memory incarnate, ritual transformed into rhythm, protest given voice, and joy made manifest—a living pulse that carries history from one generation to the next. Over centuries, that pulse has traveled across oceans, first carried by force through slavery, later shared by choice through cultural exchange. […]

Everyday Couture: Why Africa’s True Fashion Houses Sit on the Streets

Everyday Couture: Why Africa's True Fashion Houses Sit on the Streets Fundi wa nguo mwanamke

  Growing up in Africa, you feel the streets’ pulse long before you ever hear of Paris runways. On crowded roads where roasted plantain and petrol fumes mingle, a tailor’s shop hums with life. It’s a tiny space, bursting with wax prints, bogolan, kente, and lace — colors popping like a festival. A sewing machine […]

WORN OUT — Part III: Return to Sender

WORN OUT — Part III: Return to Sender 00B98278 8E2A 464A AEB5 00079418D650

How African Designers Are Reclaiming Waste and Rewriting Fashion’s Future The bales arrive as they always have — compressed, labeled, shipped across oceans like cargo without conscience. They still overwhelm ports and markets, a visible symptom of a system that hasn’t stopped. But something has shifted in how they’re received. Across Accra, Cairo, Dakar, workshops […]