Ghana Funeral Culture: How West Africans Honor the Dead With Custom Coffins, Fashion, and Ceremony
A life happened here, and it was worthy of celebration.
Lagos Fashion Week: All the Highlights from Day Two
Lagos Fashion Week kicked off on Thursday night with a vibrant showcase of creativity, culture, and contemporary style. The opening shows brought
Boyedoe, Connade, and Late For Work: African Design Takes Paris at Tranoï 2025
Boyedoe, Connade, and Late For Work: African Design Takes Paris at Tranoï 2025 Photo credit: Andrea Adriani / GoRunway, Canex Tranoï runway, Paris Fashion Week SS26. Connade — Hand in Hand Collection Between September 29 and October 7, 2025, Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026 brought the usual spectacle but this season, three African designers made […]
How Colonial Morality Still Polices African Fashion
How Colonial Morality Still Polices African Fashion Akamba Warrior (Kenya): Image No. 10768. Courtesy of Penn Museum Archives. Before colonial rule, most communities wore practical, hand-made garments: woven cotton wrappers in West Africa; smocks and robes for traders and farmers; leather and beadwork in parts of the Sahel and southern Africa; wool and barkcloth where […]
Hair Culture in West Africa: A Historical and Modern Perspective
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 […]
Homegrown to High Fashion: African Musicians’ Style Journey and Cultural Pride
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Burna Boy (@burnaboygram) Burna Boy in Ozwald Boateng at The Met Gala 2025 African musicians have long used fashion to reflect their cultural roots and global ambitions. In the early 2000s, as genres like Afrobeats gained momentum, artists championed local designers, wearing traditional fabrics […]
Imported Treasures: Kwasi Paul’s Vision of Diasporic Style
There’s a particular kind of confidence that comes from wearing something made with intention—clothing that carries weight beyond its fabric. Kwasi Paul’s latest collection, “Imported Treasures,” understands this implicitly. Founded in 2020 by Samuel Boakye, a first-generation Ghanaian-American, the brand has built its reputation on creating menswear and womenswear that refuses to choose between tradition […]
Inside the Rise of Africa’s Skateboarding Culture
In Kampala, in a neighborhood called Kitintale, a half-pipe rises from the red earth. It is not polished concrete poured by a city planner or a glossy installation by a global sports brand. It is a handmade monument, built nearly twenty years ago by Jackson Mubiru, who believed Uganda’s children needed a place to […]
Everyday Couture: Why Africa’s True Fashion Houses Sit on the Streets
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 […]
Cowrie Shells Carry Africa’s Past Into Fashion’s Future
When Beyoncé appeared in Black Is King, her face veiled in a mask of cowrie shells, the world saw ornament. Africans saw memory. These glossy shells once banned, once branded “demonic” had returned to the global stage, shimmering with pride. Behind them stood Lafalaise Dion, the Ivorian designer who has become the “Queen of Cowries,” […]