The Next Generation of African Fashion: Sustainable and Self-Sufficient

“When we talk about the fashion industry we think Eurocentric, white European or American, that is where we go to first, but Africa has always been the bedrock of inspiration.” Pinaman Owusu-Banahene’s expression of Africa and its rife capability lines her every word as we speak over the phone. She is the founder of ADJOAA, an e-commerce marketplace that sells African  and African diaspora-owned brands. Built in 2021, it threads together the continent’s plentiful fashion offerings, offerings that boast of each country’s affinity for tailoring, prints and design.

ADJOAA sits amongst a circle of growing businesses such as The Folklore, Jendaya and Industrie Africa, as since 2019, the African luxury goods market has seen a significant rise in online marketplaces. Each platform serves as a solution to one of Africa’s biggest challenges, a lack of logistical distribution for self-manufactured goods. They place brands in localised marketplaces, safeguarding the means of purchase and delivery, to not only emboldens designers’ opportunity for expansion but the Africa’s wider retail market, contributing to its projected revenue of $40.80bn in 2023.

For Amira Rasool, Founder of The Folklore Connect, building B2B technology to connect boutique brands to wholesale partners cemented both the designers and platforms global reach. “I think people underestimate how costly it is to run a direct-to-consumer business, particularly an international one. Customers don’t want to pay $60-$80 for shipping, but the brand also doesn’t want to take that hit on their end.” With pre-existing B2B markets underestimating the value of Africa’s growth potential, The Folklore Connect entered a relatively untouched market.

For brands who are at the beginning of their venture, the platform provides a unique opportunity for stability, as they receive consistent income every season from retailers placing reorders. As such, B2B shows a dynamic form of expansion, giving “economic opportunities to diverse communities in emerging markets, increasing exports and stimulating economies through commerce and tech.” Rasool explains. The building of economic ecosystems, circulating wealth from within, and using platforms as a tool for wider development across Africa is a point of innovation for the African fashion market, and we are seeing this formula emulated in businesses across the continent.

South Africa, home to the most prominent luxury market in Africa, valued at $133 million, is also the biggest producer of Mohair in the world. “We have everything we need right here, we just don’t have the same facilities that Europe affords, for example, there are only two yarn spinners in South Africa.” Jacques Burthy is the owner of the knitwear manufacturing company Vuya, based in Cape Town. He produces the work of many South African designers such as 2019’s LVMH Prize winner, Thebe Magugu, and makes a point of sourcing natural materials from the land while doing so. “It’s not an easy journey”, Burthy explains, “but I try to work around it, I’ve been in textiles for more than 38 years and for me it’s not about the money. It’s about the quality of the produce and my ability to help South Africa.” 

Journalist Odunayo Ojo, otherwise known as ‘Fashion Roadman’, visited South Africa last year to document this rapidly growing industry, witnessing a similar dilemma, but within it, a comradery for change. “Because they don’t have a lot of fabric mills, there’s a more communal atmosphere. In South Africa, all the designers sort of work together, there’s no animosity, because I think there’s an understanding that they need to collectively grow the industry.” Which can only be done with investment. In their case, self-investment. 

The fashion scene there has long been brewing, with South African Fashion Week founded in 1996, it has seen 27 years showcasing South Africa’s most rousing talents, providing them with an exciting opportunity for B2B investments. Fashion Week has typically been a term synonymous with the European fashion industry. Regurgitating the same cycle again every year, editors and buyers travel twice a year to cities London, Paris, Milan, and New York for SS, AW of Mens and Womenswear. But with the rise in fashion weeks across Africa, they face strong competition from shows in Lagos, Dakar and Addis Ababa to name a few. 

Mahlet Teklemariam, the co-founder of Hub of Africa Fashion Week which takes place every October in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, began her venture in 2001. “We’ve had to look for the resources ourselves to keep it going and one of the main drives is to be able to source, produce and do business within Africa. One of the criteria for every designer we feature, is that they produce and source their materials from Africa. The whole idea is to build Africa within the fashion sector.”

From this, we are witnessing an exciting exploration of what Africa’s diverse fashion scene has to offer. Not waiting for a western co-sign, the next generation of African entrepreneurs are forging the way for themselves. It is by no means easy, but it is with an innate desire to be a part of building the continent’s wider economic prosperity through fashion, that they continue to figure it out, together.