African designers are subverting the stereotypical ideologies of what it means to run a fashion business and are creating brands that have made it into the mainstream with full force. Adebayo Oke-Lawal of Orangeculture Nigeria, Kenneth Ize, Thebe Magugu, Lukhanyo Mdingi, Sindiso Khumalo, Mmuso Maxwell and Thompson Adeju of Lagos Space Program are a few of the household names in the African fashion industry whose ethos is unmatched and hard to miss.
Besides being stocked in global luxury retail showrooms like Browns, Farfetch, SSENCE, and Net-a-porter, and being semi-finalists, finalists and winners of global competitions like the LVMH and Woolmark Prizes, a common thread to these brands is their focus on ethical fashion.
Sustainability and ethical fashion have been a core conversation in the fashion industry since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic was the much-needed jolt to reality the fashion industry needed to expose the ripple effects of certain unethical practices.“[Covid-19] has shed light and inspired deep compassion and gratitude for those who do the arduous work of supporting the backbone of our economies, often at great risk and with little appreciation,” writer Vanessa Barboni Hallik, said in Vogue.
Although it gained mainstream attention during the pandemic, sustainable fashion and ethical production aren’t new phenomena in the African fashion industry. “One important thing to note [is that] sustainability has always been an inherent part of African culture partially due to necessity,” Sana Ahmed, wrote on Causeartist. Textile waste reduction, skills preservation such as hand weaving and crocheting, environmental conservation such as the use of indigo dyes, responsibility to humanity, rubbish sorting and slow production have long been ingrained in the working principles of African fashion.
Ultimately, the point of sustainable and ethical fashion in Africa is to preserve and conserve a craft that’s been lingering since pre and post-colonial times. However, the conversation has gone beyond the preservation of crafts, to building a community of people whose ideologies are premised on teamwork, love, bond and community building.
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