For decades, African designers have channelled changing notions of identity and aspiration into fashion. The exhibition “Africa Fashion”, now showing at the Quai Branly museum in Paris, explores the diversity and dynamism of the continent’s styles from the independence era to today.
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Originally developed by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the exhibition toured New York, Portland, Chicago, Melbourne and Montreal before arriving in Paris.
“There’s certainly different resonance in different locations, but the story itself has remained the same,” says curator Christine Checinska.
“The narrative has always been about trying to give people a glimpse of the politics and glamour of the African fashion scene. It’s still a story of agency and abundance and unbounded creativity from multiple African perspectives,” she tells RFI.
“With each venue we’ve been able to add to the original show. We’ve been able to work with the teams in the various museums to bring additional photography, different additional textiles, for example.”
Cut from different cloth
Coming to Europe‘s fashion capital gives the show special resonance, says Cameroonian designer Imane Ayissi, whose hot-pink outfit features on the exhibition poster.
“It’s not every day that African craftsmanship and African fashion are showcased in Paris,” he says.
Many of the continent’s first professional designers studied in Paris or London, including Mali‘s Chris Seydou, Alphadi of Niger and Nigeria‘s female pioneer Shade Thomas-Fahm.
The show traces the path they charted in the 1950s and ’60s as African countries regained their independence.
“1960 was the ‘Year of Africa’, when over 17 countries rid themselves of colonial rule and a new sense of pride rang out through literature, music, art and fashion,” Checinska explains.
Cutting new cloth: African designers stitch fresh stories into Paris fashion
African heritage, global influences
Today, Ayissi and his contemporaries draw on this rich fashion heritage, while injecting older traditions and global influences.
“I love creating fusions like this,” says Ayissi, who blends African raw materials and textiles with European haute couture. “I love blending the two.”
Four of his outfits are featured in the exhibition, including the one on the poster. The pink cape is made of embroidered silk and linen with a fringe of raffia from Madagascar, he tells RFI.
“It was made for my 2019 collection and is called ‘Mbeuk Idourrou’ in the Beti language of Cameroon. It means: ‘He or she who wears a garment that is impressive’. So it is ceremonial dress, important dress.”
Ayissi, who in 2020 became the first designer from sub-Saharan Africa to present an haute couture collection at Paris Fashion Week, is “really important to the story of African fashion”, says Checinska.
“He straddles two different fashion systems: the Parisian system, but also the system on the [African] continent. And he also has this wonderful, subtle and elegant blend of different cultural mixes.”
There’s not one single African style, the curator emphasises, rather nuance and difference across cultures. Yet for her, there is a common thread running through the African continent.
“I think there is this appreciation for making, for textiles, for aesthetics, and for the connection between music, movement and fashion.
“It comes out in many, many different forms across the continent and diaspora. But I think ultimately there’s a sense of beauty in everyday life. There’s a sense of the joy of dressing up.”
► “Africa Fashion” runs until 12 July 2026 at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.