African Fashion Designers: If you love fashion, there is a pretty good possibility that you already know at least one African artist that you respect. In fact, Africa delivered so many personalities that are causing waves in finances, technology and fashion, among many other industries.
Below you can find some inspiring African fashion designers that are famous and that have their work featured in the most popular showrooms of the entire world. Their creations were featured in magazines and the did dress numerous celebrities, way beyond the little black dress, with stunning creations.
Table of Contents
Lisa Folawiyo – Nigeria
Lisa Folawiyo founded “Jewel by Lisa”, a brand that is specialized in those Ankara textiles we often see in African fashion. This is a fabric that is so often used all across the continent and Lisa added her own touch to it, thus creating something really special. The fabric is embellished with sequins, crystals and beads. You will often see Lisa’s clothes in London, New York, Paris, Hollywood and Cape Town.
TaiboBacar – Mozambique
TaiboBacar’s mother was a seamstress and nobody expected to see his work being considered as that of one of the most promising designers in the continent. Bacar started working in Maputa and just sold fabrics in a few stores. There was not much quality or variety present. Then, due to his team of being a fashion designer, he kept working and eventually became successful, all while going through times that were really tough in the African fashion industry.
Mimi Plange – Ghana
Although born in Ghana, Mimi Plange now lives in the US. She works hard to prove the fact that African fashion is special and cannot be stopped. While her work does not use the prints that are considered to be traditional, there is a clear element of culture added to designs. All is combined with American culture, leading to something unique.
Famous fashion magazines took notice of Mimi Plange’s unique style. Even Michelle Obama ended up wearing a design the African designer created.
LozaMaleombho – Ivory Coast
LozaMaleombho’s style is definitely captivating. What is interesting is that her brand was actually initially launched in the city of New York. It was later that the installation appeared in Abidjan. The reason why the business was set up in Africa was to encourage others that might want to get involved in the fashion industry. Besides being really successful in fashion, Loza is also involved in women rights. African prints are not prioritized in launched collections since she thinks that there are other materials that can express African culture beauty.
KigonenNfi – Cameroon
Last but not least, fashion designer KibonenNfi has been using Cameron’s culture and traditional values as inspiration. She thus uses Toghu, which is a Cameroonian traditional fabric. This instantly attracted attention from all around the world. Toghu is quite colourful so it was a natural choice for Lupita Nyong’o, who was featured by Vogue. Because of this, Kibonen also gained notoriety. The fashion designer from Cameroon is known across the continent and in America.