African fashion excellence on show at Paris Fashion Week
A few days ago, the 4th edition of the Africa Fashion Up show took place. This event, dedicated to the promotion of African fashion, offers a unique concept in Paris. The designers invited to parade are selected by a jury of 17 fashion professionals. The jury includes Lamine Kouyaté, founder of Xuly.Bët, Mossi Traoré, founder of Mossi, Marie Jeanne Serbin Thomas, founder of Brune Magazine, and Vanessa Moungar, Director of Inclusion and Diversity at LVMH.
The selected designers take to the catwalk in Paris at the prestigious Musée Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac during Fashion Week. The date and location of the event are not insignificant. After all, it’s all about putting African fashion in the international spotlight. A demanding Parisian audience had the opportunity to applaud the 2024 winners after the presentation of their collections.
Winners included Rich Mnisi, founder of the eponymous Johannesburg-based brand, who received the Best Of Africa award. In addition, Mohamed Youss, creator of the Anouri brand, was awarded the “Eco-Responsible Designer” prize. In addition, Gugu Peteni, head of Gugubygugu, was awarded the “Jeune Designer” prize. Finally, Kadiata Diallo, founder of the Niuku brand, was also honored.
Rich Mnisi
Africa Fashion Up has forged exceptional partnerships to accelerate the development of African fashion
Supported by HEC Paris, Africa Fashion Up offers winners individual mentoring to help them identify the right strategies for developing their brand. And for the first year, an exclusive sale is organized at Galeries Lafayette. An opportunity to discover the collections of the winners in all editions. On the evening of the show, a number of personalities from the French cultural scene were present, including Yann Arthus Bertrand, Elizabeth Moreno, Samuel Lebihan, Aissa Maiga and Joey Starr. For the past 4 years, Valérie Ka, the event’s founder, has been turning her vision into reality, successfully putting African fashion in the spotlight.
Among the partners of Africa Fashion Up, Cédric Charbit, CEO of Balenciaga, explains the importance of this partnership for the brand: “As creative leadership is one of Balenciaga’s missions, promoting creativity and supporting talent worldwide is important to us. The partnership with Share Africa – Africa Fashion Up gives Balenciaga the opportunity to accompany designers based in Africa and from the African diaspora in the development of their brand. This commitment exemplifies our brand values in enabling diversification and inclusion within the fashion industry and society as a whole.”
Mina Binebine
African fashion as a lever for preserving the continent’s know-how
The event also saw the participation of seven talented designers who have won awards in previous editions. Among them were Ekantik, Mina Binebine, Cute-Saint, Eric Raisina, Ibrahim Fernandez, Nyny Rike and Chocolate. In a setting designed by sculptor-plastician Junior Fritz Jacquet, guests admired his sculptures and enjoyed a musical performance by Congolese singer RJ Kanierra. The evening ended with a gala dinner at the museum.
At a conference organized the day before the show at the Côte d’Ivoire embassy, Valérie Ka shared her dream for the years to come: to create a group of commercially powerful, internationally recognized African luxury brands. The fashion sector generates jobs and income, helping to preserve the continent’s immense know-how. By identifying economic development strategies and levers of influence, the aim is to conquer the world, one collection piece at a time. We look forward to the next edition!
Read also
