Homegrown to High Fashion: African Musicians’ Style Journey and Cultural Pride

Homegrown to High Fashion: African Musicians' Style Journey and Cultural Pride Burna Boy in Ozwald Boateng

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 like kente, adire, and kitenge to celebrate heritage and support homegrown talent. As their fame crossed borders, many embraced Western luxury brands like Louis […]

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, […]

Snatched Waists and Style Play: The Corsetification of Nigerian Fashion

Bonang Matheba poses in a dramatic teal and green corseted gown by Veekee James, styled by Dahmola, against a neutral backdrop.

Corsetification in Nigerian fashion is cinching itself into the heart of style, emerging from Lagos red carpets, owambes, and endless scrolls of Instagram and TikTok. It’s a waist, pulled tight, hyper-defined, framed by elaborate bustiers and couture-heavy tailoring that now defines one of the most visible aesthetics of Nigerian femininity. This isn’t just a trend, […]

Inside Oshobor: Where Heritage, Healing, and Haute Craft Collide

Inside Oshobor: Where Heritage, Healing, and Haute Craft Collide IMG 9552

In 2020, during one of the hardest periods of his life, Peter Odion sat quietly in his Benin City workshop, mending torn fabric by hand. What began as therapy would soon become a signature. Stitch by stitch, he transformed pain into process, and process into fashion. That quiet moment laid the foundation for Oshobor, the […]

Prints of a Place: Banke Kuku’s Lagos-Born Language of Luxury

Prints of a Place: Banke Kuku’s Lagos-Born Language of Luxury 3

The designer Banke Kuku. Photo credit: courtesy of Banke Kuku. Banke Kuku is shaping contemporary luxury through a signature fusion of Nigerian heritage and modern print innovation—an approach rooted in her culture and a steadfast commitment to sustainability. In her vision, luxury extends beyond mere fabric or form—it becomes a narrative: the way a print […]

Waste Not, Wear More: African Designers and Artists Upcycle the Future

Waste Not, Wear More: African Designers and Artists Upcycle the Future From Dakar

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 […]