The African Lookbook is the new Bloomsbury publication gathering 130 photographs of stylish women taken between 1870 and 1970. The photographs belong to Catherine McKinley’s large collection of vernacular and studio shots from over 40 African countries and spanning the early colonial decades through the present. I had the pleasure to interview Catherine on the book, which is the first …

The viral spread of #VogueChallenge, combined with the BLM imperative of supporting black life and wellbeing worldwide, has intensified the social media conversation on the imbalances of power ingrained in the cultural economy of fashion driven by media giants like Vogue. It is therefore no surprise that the phenomenon triggered by Salma Noor now includes also critical voices and counter-arguments …

About ten days ago, in the wake of the anti-racist protests ignited by the murder of George Floyd, Salma Noor (@capricornbbyy1 on Twitter; @itssalmanoor on Instagram), an Oslo-based student hailing from Somaliland, launched the Vogue Challenge on social media. Noor, who is also an aspiring model, created a fake Vogue cover that showed her portrait wearing a black hijab with …

Sackitey Tesa Mate-Kodjo is an Accra-based photographer, stylist, and art-director known for his dreamy portraits of stylish subjects. A member of the successful group of young creative professionals from the West African country working at the intersection of fashion photography and art, Tesa has been featured recently in Vogue Italia. His bio from Vogue reads: His love for photography goes back …

“Lesotho Rodeo” is a visual story about modern African cowboys introducing Chulaap’s Spring Summer 2020. Chulaap debuted in 2015 with prints inspired by South African street styles and patterns. The brand has since consolidated its message of elevating local cultures through a daring use of colour and forms. Founder Chu Suwannapha, who designs the brand’s signature joyful prints, describes the …

The Russian photographer Elena Iv-Skaya teamed up with stylist Carla Vermaak and beauty editor Alice Coloriti for the “Electrical” editorial just out in African Is Now mag.

The Malian photographer has just released images of a recent shooting for the Finnish magazine SSAW, featuring Ivorian model Zoe Alayrangues and styled by Azza Yousif

The universe of African fashion films is diverse and under-investigated. Most of the times they are left out of discussions of African fashion in spite of an uptick in their production and the positive reception on the continent. Given fashion’s heavy reliance and emphasis on storytelling for branding and marketing purposes, this lack of attention is hard to explain. In my …

Maison ART/C is the Moroccan fashion house launched by the Israeli designer Artsi Ifrach, renowned for sumptuous items characterized by an eye-catching use of color and prints. The garments are all made on request and  from recycled materials.   “Beautiful sadness” is the maison’s new collection lensed by Mous Lamrabat for Hub of Africa in Addis Ababa. I love the …

Stephen Tayo is a documentary photographer whose street shots capture everyday life in Lagos. Many of such pictures reflect self-styling practices and dress cultures in urban and rural contexts. They are therefore a great source of research and learning if you are interested in Nigerian street fashion. Tayo’s work has been featured in Vogue,  It’s Nice That, and Coeval Magazine. …