TEMESGEN: A Language of Fabric, A Feeling of Home
In the heart of Stockholm, thousands of miles from the red earth and golden light of Addis Ababa, a quiet revolution in fashion is unfolding. TEMESGEN is not just a clothing brand; it is a cultural bridge, a narrative archive, a homecoming stitched in cotton, wool, and memory. Founded in 2024 by Jimmie Temesgen Sandberg […]
WORN OUT — Part II: How African Governments Are Responding to the Textile Waste Crisis
Western wardrobes don’t end in Europe or North America. They spill quietly, devastatingly onto African soil, packed into shipping containers and sold in open-air markets under the guise of “donations.” But from Accra to Kigali, Dakar to Lusaka, something is shifting. The bales keep arriving. The markets keep choking. But across the continent, a patchwork […]
DJ Hibotep Was Told She Belonged Nowhere. So She Made Her Own Frequency
In the liminal spaces between displacement and defiance, between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu, between woman and warrior stands Hibo Elmi, the artist known as DJ Hibotep. She is not merely a DJ, nor a filmmaker, nor a cultural force. She is an alkemist. One who melts borders. One who distills pain, memory, and ancestral rhythm […]
Luxury Dreams, Local Struggles: The Price of African Fashion Today
African fashion has been experiencing a delightful renaissance. From Lagos to Abidjan, Dakar to Nairobi, designers are capturing global attention with their creativity, craftsmanship, and cultural storytelling. But beneath the glamour, many African consumers are voicing a growing concern: the escalating cost of homegrown fashion is driving them out of the market. As inflation and […]
Cover, Don’t Conceal: Marième Mboup and the New Shape of African Modesty
Once considered the domain of religious and conservative values, modest fashion has undergone a dramatic transformation — becoming one of the most expressive and innovative style movements among African youths today. It is evident across major cultural capitals like Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa, young Africans are reimagining what it means to dress modestly. Though […]
Waste Not, Wear More: African Designers and Artists Upcycle the Future
As the global fashion industry reckons with its massive environmental impact, Africa is quietly leading a creative revolution — one where waste is not discarded but reborn. On this World Environment Day, we turn the spotlight to a growing community of African designers and artists transforming textile scraps, plastic, and secondhand clothing into vibrant works […]
Amber Is the New Bold: When the Glow Is Ours to Command
The body has always been a canvas—and melanin, a masterpiece. Not in the way galleries hold paintings behind velvet ropes, but in the way a woman, bare-shouldered and sun-kissed, walks into a room and does not apologize for taking up space. Melanin is not just pigment. It is memory, it is resistance, it is grace […]
In Dubai, African Designers Set the Tone for a Global Conversation on Luxury
Last month, the opulent halls of the Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah in Dubai pulsed with creativity as the AFRA World Fashion Confluence 2025 brought together designers from across the globe under the evocative theme Echoes of the Oasis. At the heart of it all was a landmark partnership between AFRA World and the Lulubell Group, led […]
Africa Day 2025: The Legacy and Future of African Unity
Every May 25th, the African continent unites to commemorate Africa Day—a celebration of independence and a long and complex journey toward unity and sovereignty. At its heart lies the African Union (AU), a continental body born from the vision of a self-determined Africa, free from colonial dominance, economic subjugation, and foreign political interference. Understanding the […]
1-54 New York 2025: African Artists Reshape the Narrative
Over the past decade, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has evolved from a niche satellite event into a mainstay of the international art circuit. This year marked its tenth anniversary in New York, as the fair returned with its most ambitious edition yet, opening from May 8 – 11 at the Halo on 28 Liberty […]