Africa Grows the Cotton. A Dakar Gathering Asks Who Profits.
The most important fashion event in Dakar this year had less to do with fashion than with industry. For three days in March, the Centre des Expositions de Diamniadio drew manufacturers, policymakers, textile producers, leather experts, investors, designers, entrepreneurs and development partners from across Africa and beyond, gathered for the inaugural Africa Sourcing & Fashion […]
After the Applause: Heritage Textiles and the Economics of the Runway Moment
Florentina Agu went back to the wood carving workshops she had visited as a child, and many of the artisans her family had once worked with were dead. The ones still alive were in difficult circumstances. Agu’s father had run a wood carving studio in Nigeria that produced parquet flooring and carved objects for sale […]
Big Four vs Africa: Fashion Week’s Contrasting Realities
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, […]