While over 400,000 people have been infected with Covid-19, Africa is
still far from the high case numbers that have been recorded
internationally. Despite this, the lockdown period has impacted local
economies and pushed the fashion industry to learn how to reinvent itself
in order to meet the needs of customers.
Omoyemi Akerele, founder of Lagos Fashion Week, organized a live debate
on Youtube with other fashion professionals to speculate fashion’s future
on the African continent. “Being able to get together to discuss the future
of fashion in Africa was a very important action. It had to be done before
even thinking of relaunching production or creating new collections.
Usually we have this kind of conversation between us, but I think that this
time it was essential to bring this debate to the public and invite
everyone to think about it,” she explained to FashionUnited. For this
debate, Akerele invited four women involved in the evolution of fashion in
Africa: Adama N’Diaye, founder of Dakar Fashion Week, Lucilla Booyzen, CEO
of South African Fashion Week, Gloria Wavamunno, who launched the Kampala
Fashion Week and Claudia Lumor, founder of Glitz Africa Magazine.
According to these professionals, the strength of Africa’s fashion will
be brought about by the different events organized on the continent. “This
season, we are only talking about community, collaboration, creation and
this is important for the future of fashion on the continent. Since last
year, I have been thinking about launching an international conference and
talking about what fashion should entail. My goal is to show that the
future of the industry is in our hands. We must work, individually and
collectively, to build it. So it was very important for me to find a way to
bring the players in the sector together in one place to discuss this.
Following the pandemic, we launched discussions live on Youtube. The
ambition is to have a collective platform for African fashion,” said
Akerele.
Towards the creation of an “African Fashion Council”?
The fashion professionals that gathered during this Youtube broadcast
agreed on one main idea: The future of fashion depends on exchange,
collaboration and knowledge sharing. This project could be realized through
the creation of an “African Fashion Council”, as suggested by Adama N’Diaye
during the live event. The aim would be to connect designers and
specialists from all over the continent. Despite differences in culture and
languages, Akerele believes that this is the next step in the evolution of
African fashion: “We must work together! If we have to do it through a
common organization, let’s do it. We have to be able to come together and
make it happen. Collaboration between different forces can help build a
network of fashion companies, which can have an impact on African economies
by creating change, knowledge, development, skills and jobs. Working
together is the opportunity to develop an African market,” she said.
The impact of going digital
From the very first day of the lockdown period, industry professionals
have increased their presence on social networks, as it was one of the only
effective ways to continue communicating with the general public. In
Africa, as everywhere else in the world, the use of Instagram, Facebook and
websites has become essential. Brands and designers share their new
creations, some of them organize live debates or playful and original
activities. But on May 22, 2020, the use of social networks by fashion
designers took on another dimension, when 29 year old Congolese designer Hanifa
Mvuemba broadcasted a 3D fashion show on her Instagram account. This
decision proved to be a feat acclaimed by the public and by the biggest
international magazines. “Doing 3D shows on social media is undoubtedly the
future of fashion! I loved to see these virtual models but beyond the
aesthetic, she took me on a trip to the Congo with her. I was touched by
the story that was told,” said Akerele enthusiastically.
This opinion was shared by Anna Touré, CEO of the fashion agency Anna
Touré PR: “This fashion show inspires me enormously! The crisis has at
least allowed everyone to understand that organizing a digital fashion show
is a good idea and that it does not prevent you from seeing the beauty of a
piece of clothing.” For her, the future of fashion is digital and a niche
in which her company has quickly positioned itself: “As soon as we launched
the agency, going digital was very important to us, even though we didn’t
neglect physical encounters or the most traditional ways of presenting
collections. We made this choice firstly because we mainly work with new
brands that don’t necessarily have the budget to organize a fashion show or
presentation.”
In addition to the financial aspect, this choice is also an opportunity
to reach a wider audience: “Integrating going digital into our strategy has
also made it possible to reach customers all over the world, both in
Germany and in China! We mainly represent African-based designers and also
from the diaspora, so this international aspect also adds value.” This has
been a strategic choice that proved beneficial, even during the lockdown
period: “Even if events were postponed, we did not stand still and
continued to be digitally active. With our brands, we have worked on crisis
strategies and post-covid preparation. The period was also very
satisfactory for some brands such as for Karidja & Khadija’s earrings. The
brand has been selling very well in-store since its launch in 2018 but it
has never sold as much online as it has since lockdown started!”
Local retailing, a promising business model
So far, the African continent has been more or less spared from the
health crisis with just over 10,000 deaths to date. This has allowed for
less stringent safety measures: “In Africa, there has not been a complete
lockdown. Designers were able to decide for themselves whether they wanted
to close their shops and workshops or not,” Touré said.
Regardless of this, fashion on the continent has been affected for other
reasons: “Designers work a lot with imported materials. In terms of
sourcing, their businesses may have been affected. Local commerce has also
been impacted since potential customers were travelling less than before,”
observed Ramata Diallo, a fashion consultant and expert in African fashion.
According to the specialist, local shops are the business model that
prevails everywhere on the continent. “In Africa, we’re working on
small-scale productions, these are limited editions. The relationship with
the consumer is different. The couturier knows his client well and is
attentive to their needs. There is a very pragmatic side because we don’t
produce large quantities to fill a shop, but we produce to really meet a
consumer’s need,” she explained.
This model could inspire the West at this time: “This loyalty system and
this link with the consumer have a bright future ahead of them. The Western
business model, which is currently being questioned, could be inspired by
it, since today there is the desire to put the customer back at the heart
of thought. They realized that the clients have been forgotten, whereas for
African designers, they are the priority. In their way of working, African
designers place the consumer at the heart of their strategy, which
corresponds to the way we consume on the continent.”
This business model, which is very widespread on the African continent,
could be a source of inspiration in other societies where fashion aims to
be sustainable, fair and personalized.
Photo credit: Karidja & Khadija par Bizenga Biz/ Anna Touré PR,
screenshot Instagram Lagos Fashion Week, Hanifa Mvuemba, Pixabay
This article was originally published on FashionUnited.FR,
translated and edited.
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