Africa has always being a beautiful and colorful continent, filled with diverse cultures, values and art. Fashion in Africa is unique and wholesome and the need to celebrate African fashion dexterity is a topic that will never be underestimated .
For decades, the global fashion industry has referenced African fashion, but it has not always done so in the right way, for a long time, African fashion has been misconstrued as ‘tribal’ or ‘exotic’ and simplified to animal skin .
Africa is a large continent. As a result, the variation of the African fashion story that exists is influenced by a myriad of societies, and the status of individuals or groups within that community.
Colors and patterns, created in printed and dyed cloth; woven fabric strips; and beaded attire distinguished one ethnic group from another. Tribes prided themselves on the quality of their hand-made cloth. They used techniques handed down generation by generation for centuries.
Today, people in urban areas are warming up to African traditional garments outside of special occasions. An example would be men and women who opt for kaftans for work wear for dress down Fridays.
Africans have always taken European fashion to the next level and made it their own. An example are Tees, shirts, sweats, gowns etc made from african fabrics.
It is not a prophecy but as a matter of time, Africa will spearhead the fashion trend in the world with countries like Nigeria , South Africa amongst others leading this new era.