Fashion Africa: One Day Conference, Nairobi

On an international level there was a time, not so long ago when the terms ‘Fashion’ and ‘Africa’ seemed mutually exclusive. While the continents’ cotton industry was attractive to all, the thought of looking to Africa for trends, design or manufacturing seemed like an alien concept to many in the global fashion community . Most recently however there’s been a growing change – both high street brands and high-end designers are starting to look to Africa for design inspiration, for manufacturing and as a developing sales market.

This shift in attitude has come about in no small part through the endeavours of people like  Jacqueline Shaw, founder of Africa Fashion Guide.

Forging international links between industry and creativity with a view to promoting the continents’ fashion industry (both financially and culturally) the platform celebrated its first birthday this September. Now, just a month later Africa Fashion Guide launch a major one day conference called Fashion Africa.

Held in Nairobi, Kenya the event explores themes around ethical fashion, trade, luxury and craft for example.  Our own Prama Bhardwaj will be attending as one of the speakers alongside Linda Murithi of In the Bag / Hub of Africa Fashion Week, JC Mazingue of USAID /Compete Africa and many, many others. 

An inspiring and dynamic force, you may have already heard of Jacqueline through her seminal book Fashion Africa, A Visual Overview Of Contemporary African Fashion –  a must-read for anyone interested in the modern definition of an increasingly popular term.