Among its many legacies, colonialism bred a unique fashion culture across the African continent, one that owes its dynamism and innovation to its inner complexities. Designer Wanda LePhoto has been exploring the cultural syncretism of contemporary sartorial expressions in his native South Africa for a long time. “Black Renaissance” is the latest collection of LePhoto’s eponymous brand, peeling back the …

As both scholar and designer, Christine Checinska has worked in fashion for decades. Through the years, she has developed a substantial body of work on the relationship between race, culture, and cloth, focusing on British and British-diasporan contexts. She is currently Curator of African and African Diaspora Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, where she is curating Africa Fashion, …

Twyg is a not-for-profit media company founded by Jackie May, a writer and former editor at Marie Claire and The Times and now a full-time sustainability advocate. Twyg officially launched in February 2019 to promote an eco-conscious fashion and lifestyle in South Africa. The company, a member of the Union for Concerned Fashion Researchers, is aligned with the U.N. Sustainable …

The Slum Studio – IG @theslumstudio – is a Ghanaian brand that creates wearable art pieces with clothing waste sourced in Accra. Its model of sustainability applies circularity, regeneration, and ethical standards to art-making and is informed by a reflection on human geographies and the socially-produced nature of space. The garments are material maps of multiple journeys and the realities …

Mohammed Osumanu, 29, is a fashion stylist, designer, and artist from Accra who describes himself as as “a guy determined to push African art and fashion beyond boundaries”. The founder of the brand Afronative, Mohammed, aka @MohammedBlakk, is also one of the four #KvngsOfTheNewSchool, a crew of self-described “art citizens” advancing “an inclusive movement of afrocentric people who wish to …

Vusimuzi Terrence Shabalala, or Vusie Shabba as he prefers to be called, is a fashion stylist, events organizer, influencer, innovative, dreamer of 25. He was born in Soweto Meadowlands and has been based in Braamficher since 2007. Who is Vusie Shabba and what is your history? I grew up participating in a lot of life skills activities, I grew up …

Clinton Malik is a creative, style blogger and fashion model from Kenya with a visionary style that mixes afrofuturism and nostalgia. Since starting “Be your own creation” (BYOC) in May 2015, a brand promoting originality, creativity and self-worth through fashion, travel, art and music, he has built a solid reputation as a community-focused stylist and a big following on social …

Daniel Obasi (Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram) is a 23 year old stylist, photographer, and art director from Abia and now based in Lagos, who is being hailed as one a prolific representative of the New African Aesthetics movement. Daniel has shot and styled a number of iconic fashion campaigns and collaborated with national and international brands, most notably Vlisco on the …

“Talents” is a space to showcase and learn about the work of emerging creatives in the fields of black fashion, photography, and fine art. *** This month I have the pleasure to post a conversation with Size Mbiza. Hailing from South Africa, Siza is an all-around artist who works in photography, creative direction, and fashion. His works capture the new African cool, visually shaping urban …

September begins with another interview. This time I explore the visual legacy of Dutch colonialism in the Caribbean, the representation of manliness, and the Afro-diasporan aesthetic of Shiba Huizer. Shiba is a London-based intuitive photographer from Amsterdam who uses subcultural references inspired by her family history in 1960s Curaçao to create a new vision of male beauty and Dutch colonial history. After attending the Rietveld Academy …