H&M, Europe’s second fashion retailer, has launched its first store in sub-Saharan Africa in Cape Town and plans to open more in Johannesburg, following an increase in the local demand for top international brands. Promoting itself as a purveyor of “sustainable” and “democratic” fashion, the brand caters to the aspirational market of the South African middle class, as well as to “people who might …

French photographer Eric Lafforgue has documented the unique headgear that the Ethiopian Daasanach realize with materials they find in the garbage, such as bottle caps, broken watches, plastic straws, labels, etc. These ornaments signal the different social and generational positions of those who wear them, with children “wear[ing] the most basic wigs regardless of their gender, whereas the oldest women wear the most massive ones. …

Writer Taiye Selasi is credited for having introduced the neologism Afropolitan into pop culture with her famous essay “Bye Bye Babar” (2005), which reformulates cosmopolitanism and citizenship for hypermobile Africans. In the words of Selasi, Afropolitans “belong to no single geography, but feel at home in many”. The ambassadors of a “multi-dimensional thinking”, they “form an identity along at least three dimensions: national, racial, cultural”. This means …

In a short documentary on the fashion scene in Trinidad and Tobago entitled Haute Caribe, we learn about the latest trends from the forerunners of Caribbean fashion and how Trinidadian designers create garments that must be “enjoyed” and “felt” not only by their wearers, but also by the people around them. In this way, they establish an almost direct link between Carnival and …

Valentino’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection is out and it just put “wild Africa” back on the radar of mainstream fashion for a controversial reception. Described as “an ode” to the continent, the collections was designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli to channel the “regal” allure of the “primitive, the tribal, the spiritual.” To this aim, it showcased kaftans, smock dresses, flares, and tunics in geometric …

To the cry of Belard is the new cool! “The art of the turban” on the French blog Nothing but the Wax describes the headwrap as a hypervisible symbol of Afrodiasporic pride and, increasingly, a universal badge of coolness. The article includes links to turban-focused blogs and e-retailers of scarfs, as well as lots of beautiful pictures. For more on the turban roll, CNN Africa shared a …

Read BBC’s article on the rapid population increase in Africa, where, at present, 3/5 of the population is under 25 years of age. The piece highlights the need to accompany this growth with quick financial developments and with the need to create opportunities for best practice.

In September 2014, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art launched an exhibition of the work of Nigerian photographer Solomon Osagie Alonge. Alonge (1911-1994) was the official photographer at the Royal Court of Benin, but he did not document only gatherings and rituals. He also ran a studio (opened in 1942) where he took pictures of up-and-coming Nigerians of the pre-and post-independence decades. Alonge’s portraits capture history …

Another Africa published an article on kente weaving and heritage preservation in Ghana. Here are some excerpts: Zoo symbolism: “The mighty elephant is the emblem of successful leadership, suggested by such proverbs as “No one follows the elephant in the bush and gets wet from the morning dew.” While the crocodile’s connotations with invincibility and danger is apparent upon seeing …