African Fashion Review of the Past Decade

by Fanele Chester


Photo courtesy Editalo Designs

The main conversation and focus of the past decade was encouraging and supporting creativity in Africa. The result: A growing fashion industry replete with designers with a strong vision and originality. The same goes for music, photography, digital art, furniture design and others. The beginning of this millennium was also the beginning of a continent-wide renaissance of the African identity, in all its wonderful diversity. It was an exciting time when what previously was thought of as impossible, as unattainable, for Africans was challenged. We redefined the inaccurate image of Africa, we showed a modern side that the world previously was almost completely ignorant of. And in turn, we exposed ourselves to a wealth of possibilities that could be adapted to all fields: finance, sociology, politics, technology, etc.

The conversation towards the end of 2010 progressed to the need to emphasize ‘entrepreneurship’ that would sustain this African creativity. In essence, the focus shifted from creativity to visibility, the market, and generating revenue … in short to the business aspect. Now that it is clear that Africans are capable of producing quality art through fashion, music, photography and other forms of art, how could this be translated into profit?

The answer lies in a larger global phenomenon: the internet. The democratization of information brought by the internet gives everyone an opportunity for visibility and for attracting a market, which would translate into revenue if used the right way. This is an example of opportunity meeting preparedness.

Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin – are platforms that are increasingly used by businesses to establish more authentic relationships with consumers than is traditionally known. This means that business has become more personal as business owners can now easily find out what their customers want, need and think … and of course their dislikes through comments left by the latter.

One great example of this conversation for African designers is the increasing focus on accessories which for consumers are more affordable than apparel, and which for designers are a way to further develop their brand image and expand revenue base. In addition, this positive spillover effect is pushing designers to focus not just on the body, but on a ‘lifestyle’. A Christie Brown woman for example – successful, independent, modern but at the same time conscious of her Ghanaian heritage – might be drawn to a certain type of style, providing CB with a venture to expand the business whilst maintaining and growing the brand.

So as the new decade in fashion begins, ushered in by Johannesburg Fashion Week (February 15 – 19), we will be keeping an eye to see if designers are capitalizing on social media, improving their websites, introducing and/or improving their e-shops, aggressively selling their products to buyers of big retailers, and maintaining an originality in their designs. The goal for all this is simple: making business out of creativity.

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Fanele blog at FASHION ET AL

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