{"id":9557,"date":"2022-06-30T14:46:01","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T14:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion"},"modified":"2022-06-30T15:23:52","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T15:23:52","slug":"in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion","title":{"rendered":"In pictures: V&A celebrates Africa’s cutting-edge fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The African continent’s position in the global fashion scene will be on full display at a new exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum that opens on Saturday.<\/b><\/p>\n

A layered shimmering silk creation by Cameroon-born designer Imane Ayissi hits the visitor between the eyes at the entrance to the exhibition:<\/p>\n

This is fashion that refuses to be boxed in.<\/p>\n

It “introduces the idea that African fashions are beyond definition and that creatives can and do choose their own paths”, V&A curator Christine Checinska says.<\/p>\n

As the person who oversees the museum’s Africa-and-diaspora textiles and fashion collection, she led the project to put the exhibition together.<\/p>\n

She believes that the industry in Africa is at the “cutting edge of global fashion” and the 250 exhibits are a “timely celebration of [its] vitality and innovation”.<\/p>\n

Through clothes, photos, sketches, film and catwalk footage, the visitor is taken on a journey that looks at the industry’s roots on the continent and traces its development.<\/p>\n

Shade Thomas-Fahm, seen here at work in Lagos in the late 1960s, has been dubbed “Nigeria’s first fashion designer”:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A champion of Nigerian textiles, she tried to modernise traditional attire with clothes that had a familiar look but with innovations that made them easier to wear, the V&A says in its exhibition notes.<\/p>\n

This is one of Thomas-Fahm’s takes on the traditional Yoruba \u00ecr\u00f3 (wrapper), b\u00f9b\u00e1 (top) and g\u00e8l\u00e8 (headscarf) made in aso-\u00f2k\u00e8, a hand-woven fabric:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With independence movements in full swing the mid-20th Century “was a time of tremendous creativity across fashion, music and the arts”, Dr Checinska says.<\/p>\n

This led to “unbounded creativity and the freedom of spirit”.<\/p>\n

This 1988 dress, made of cotton and brass, and referencing Congolese kuba cloth, shows off the work of Alphadi:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Born Sidahmed Alphadi Seidnaly in Mali in 1957, he grew up in Niger and has been described as the “Magician of the Desert”.<\/p>\n

Also from West Africa, the late Malian designer Chris Seydou worked for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne in Paris in the 1970s:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He was “known for promoting African textiles like b\u00f2g\u00f2lanfini (mud cloth) on the global stage”, Dr Checinska says.<\/p>\n

But as in the picture above, he took the cloth and designed something that was far from traditional.<\/p>\n

Ghanaian Kofi Ansah, who died in 2014, also used traditional textiles, in this case indigo-dyed cloth, and fused West African with designs from elsewhere:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He made a name for himself in Europe, but returned to Ghana in the 1990s to found his own design company.<\/p>\n

Thomas-Fahm, Alphadi, Seydou and Ansah are in the exhibition’s “Vanguard” section, highlighting the founders of modern African design.<\/p>\n

But it also brings things up to date with what Dr Checinska calls “the new generation of ground-breaking designers”.<\/p>\n

Nigerian Nkwo Onwuka has created a new textile called dakala that is aimed at reducing waste in the fashion industry.:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It is based on a strip-weaving technique using off-cuts from the production of other garments.<\/p>\n

The piece below is called The Trench and was created for the exhibition by Moroccan designer Artsi Ifrach:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“The joy of life and the joy of colour is completely different and very particular to the continent,” he says.<\/p>\n

Nigerian designer Adeju Thompson, under his brand name Lagos Space Programme, appears to be inspired by West African masquerade culture:<\/p>\n

It is called Aso L\u00e0nk\u00ed, K\u00ed At\u00f3 Ki \u00c8n\u00ecy\u00e0n, which translates from Yoruba to English as “We Greet Dress Before We Greet its Wearer”. He is trying to create a non-binary look with an eye on the future of fashion.<\/p>\n

Somali artist and costume designer Gouled Ahmed, who is based in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, also refuses to let his creations be framed by gender:<\/p>\n

His work “plays with notions of identity [and] challenges the lack of nuance in the depictions of non-binary black Muslims”, the V&A says.<\/p>\n

More understated work is also on show, including this creation by the Rwandan fashion house Moshions, which references the traditional umwitero, a sash draped over the shoulder:<\/p>\n

The designers on show at the V&A all seem to play with referencing tradition and modernity, this goes for both the textiles used as well as the stylistic choices.<\/p>\n

But the exhibition shows the diversity of what is being created on the continent and by showing this to London, Dr Checinska hopes there will be a fresh appreciation of what the continent brings to the fashion world that will change perceptions.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The African continent’s position in the global fashion scene will be on full display at a new exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum that opens on Saturday. A layered shimmering silk creation by Cameroon-born designer Imane Ayissi hits the visitor between the eyes at the entrance to the exhibition: This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":9556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,11,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-9557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-photo","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nIn pictures: V&A celebrates Africa's cutting-edge fashion - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The African continent's position in the global fashion scene will be on full display at a new exhibition at London's ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In pictures: V&A celebrates Africa's cutting-edge fashion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The African continent's position in the global fashion scene will be on full display at a new exhibition at London's ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-30T14:46:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-30T15:23:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_5-62bdbfe88bce5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1464\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"In pictures: V&A celebrates Africa’s cutting-edge fashion\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-30T14:46:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-30T15:23:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion\"},\"wordCount\":782,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_5-62bdbfe88bce5.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"photo\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/in-pictures-va-celebrates-africas-cutting-edge-fashion\",\"name\":\"In pictures: V&A celebrates Africa's cutting-edge fashion - 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