South African designer Lukhanyo Mdingi creates distinctive fashion for his eponymous label. His steady rise has led to his debut at the New York Fashion Week: Men’s and Women’s Fall/Winter 2019, adding greater inclusivity to the fashion industry’s catwalks.
Fashion
Lifestyle Think outside the bra: Top startups reshaping women’s underwear
Emerging bra startups are challenging the status quo in women’s undergarments by addressing the issues that women encounter but have had no solutions for. These solutions range from skin-toned bras, shape-shifting bras that change with women’s breast size and no-strap, no-clasp bras.
Lifestyle Photo essay: GTBank Fashion Weekend
It is never too late to talk about fashion. In November we covered the GTBank Fashion Weekend. Explore the streets through the lens of Nigerian photographer Kamnele Obasi.
Lifestyle Skin appropriate brown and bronze ballet shoes for dancers of colour
Ethnic minority classical dancers had to use paint or foundation make-up to darken the standard-issue pink shoes that were the only option available to them. Now, for the first time on a large scale, ballet shoes will better match the skin colour of black and mixed dancers.
Lifestyle Black Dandyism and Africa’s gender fluid fashion
The youth of Africa today are positioned in an intermingling of cultural identities and there is a need to find a contemporary style that merges those identities. Black dandyism has helped curate an aesthetic that is well groomed, refined yet inclusive of African sensibilities. Most of all, it has ushered in the age of African gender fluid fashion.
Lifestyle Ties between African countries and China are complex. Understanding this matters
Not enough credit is given to the agency African governments have in their dealings with China.
Arts and Culture Namibia: Windhoek Fashion Week returns for a third edition
Started in 2016, the Windhoek Fashion Week has gradually grown to become a major event in Southern Africa. The 2018 event is set to be even bigger, running from 6 to 10 November.
Arts and Culture Fashion start-up Walls of Benin is out to disrupt the Europe-to-Africa loungewear status quo
An ambitious fashion start-up business is producing high-quality sleepwear and loungewear in Africa and exporting it to Europe.
Africans rising Nigerian-born Taofeek Abijako is the youngest designer to present at New York Men’s Fashion Week
At only 19 years of age, the creator of the brand Head of State+, Taofeek Abijako, is presenting his 2019 spring/summer collection at New York Fashion Week.