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New African Fashion

With African fashion on the rise, we caught up with Helen Jennings, author of New African Fashion.
Jamie Clifton
London, GB

By 2050, 20% of the world's population will live in Africa, ergo eventually Africa will be the new China, and therefore all fashion forward types should be interested in the work of Helen Jennings. She has been the editor of Arise Magazine since it started, which, in case you don't know, focuses on pretty much everything coming out of and happening in Africa. Now, she's written a book called New African Fashion that profiles the brightest new talent coming out of the African world of fashion, including designers, models, artists, and all the biggest names from the African fashion scene. Think about that the next time you hear something cool and don't tell anyone about it because you want it to be your thing.

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Duro Olowu by John-Paul Pietrus.

VICE: Hey Helen, why did you decide to put the book together?
Helen Jennings: Well, I think in the last few years African fashion has done kind of what Japanese fashion did in the late 80s and just shot up really fast. I did a bit of research and saw there was no book on the subject. Well, whatever was already there was hopelessly out of date.

Why has it suddenly flourished like that? You say in the introduction about it just being a source of inspiration before, but it's clearly far more than that now.
You know, the place is growing economically and in terms of infrastructure. As is the art scene, interior design, and fashion. You name it, it's all part of a rapidly growing creative industry. Obviously, it's also fueled by the internetblogs, and social media, just like it is anywhere else. Another thing, actually, is that the creative industry's being seen as an OK thing to do. You know, here it's encouraged, but there, if you come from a wealthy background, you're expected go into law, or business, or medicine, or whatever, and I think being an artist was seen as, like, a bum thing to do. Now, things are changing, you're getting more upper-middle class people being allowed to go and do art and fashion degrees, so it's all expanding really fast.

Does that mean people are expressing themselves more through fashion on a day-to-day basis nowadays, then?
Yeah, exactly. Everything's modernizing. What's allowed to be worn is changing and the barriers are just coming down a lot more, I think.

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So, would you see people wearing some of the more flamboyant stuff like Buki Akib around now compared to five years ago?
Oh yeah, totally. I mean, different countries have different vibes and different budgets and things, but yeah, for sure. You get cool kids all over, you know?

Gloria Wavamunno.

Sure. Also, I suppose there's a strong history of clothes-making and print designing in Africa too that must be coming into a whole new dimension now that there are more and more contemporary designers adapting aspects of their culture? 
Yeah, of course. It has its own very rich culture in terms of fabrics, how different tribes dress, their own traditions, you know? And from an international point of view, I think that's quite interesting. It feels very fresh. It's not just, like, John Galliano going, "Oh, I'll use some Masai print". The designers doing it are obviously going to do a much better job than someone else ripping them off.

Yeah, what bearing does African street fashion old and new have on the designers around nowadays?
Well, obviously there are The Smarteez, who are influencing things from the ground up. They started off as a sort of sartorial street gang and now have their own collection. Then, The Sapeurs inspired Paul Smith's SS10 collection - he pretty much just copied them - so there's a direct link there. In terms of other influences, it's more to do with sort of traditional fabrics and shapes that the designers are now drawing on, but turning into high fashion. For example,Jewel by Lisa, who's one of the main Nigerian designers, took the agbada—that big baggy top that African men wear—looked at a photo of one from the 50s or 60s and turned that into womenswear.

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Cool. So, when exactly was it that this modern fashion revolution kicked off?
Well, in the modern sense of design there have definitely been people in Africa doing it since the 50s and 60s. You know, designers making sort of Twiggy-style dresses and stuff that you would see in London and New York back then. In terms of the current industry, though, like the designers I've profiled in the book, most of those have come up in the last five years or so. In certain countries, in terms of industries and fashion weeks, it's still brand-new.

Are there any countries in Africa that are particularly fashion-forward?
Yeah, there are two main ones. South Africa, which is obviously the most developed country in the continent, so they have a lot of their own versions of some of the global fashion magazines, more advanced local medias, and very active blogging - all that sort of thing. The other big one is Nigeria because there's a lot of wealth there and a lot of people who travel internationally.

Eric Raisina by Misha Taylor.

Is there a look for each one of those countries?
Well, in Nigeria you have a lot stuff like Givenchy and Lara Bohinc, but there are plenty of local designers as well. The designers in Johannesburg are also pretty dressy, but there are lots of pared down, beachy types of clothes there too.

Are people wearing stuff like Gold Coast Trading Co. anywhere in Africa, or is it still brands like adidas and Nike that dominate the street look?
It's both, but Johannesburg is definitely the most ahead for that kind of stuff. A streetwear label based there, Ama Kip Kip, is really popular. There are a few more doing that sort of retro, 80s-inspired sportswear there, too. There's a magazine based there too called Cuss, which is all about finding, like, 80s sportswear and neon high-tops, or whatever. So yeah, the more sort of edgy, sporty, streetwear look is all Johannesurg.

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Are there any other scenes or subcultures other than The Smarteez and The Sapeurs? Stuff like Die Antwoord's ZEF clique wearing weirder, more unconventional clothes as part of their subculture?
Well, there are lots of street style blogs in countries like Kenya and Nigeria, but they're more straightforward, fashion-related ones. I'm not too sure though, really. Cuss is always popping up with weirder subcultures. But yeah, I'm not sure about Zef, Die Antwoord scare me, quite frankly.

Ha ha.
One South African photographer told me about this scene there, which is that kind of edgy, 80s sportswear thing called iamcoolkid, but I couldn't find any back-up for that.

Nor can I, sadly. Who, of the new African designers, are your favourites?
Umm, there's a label in Nigeria called Maki Oh which is brand new. She studied in Bournemouth, I think, and then went back to Lagos. I love her stuff, it's just really cerebral - lots of concept behind it. Also, she looks at local fabrics, but then she remakes them and gives them new meanings. You know, you don't look at it and think, 'Oh, that's African'. It's very clever design, very unique.

Do you like to see a bit of African influence in there still, like tribal prints etc., or does it not really matter to you?
No, I don't think it should be as narrow as that. I mean, some designers do still do that and maybe because they're the underdog are quite conscious of that and want to be recognized as African. So, they use, like, African prints and mud cloths and things that look African. Of course, there are also other new designers who don't feel like they need to do that, so instead take influence from Japan, or the internet, or futurism, or whatever. You can take any approach, I don't think it should just be stuck in to one category of design.

Who's doing stuff inspired by the internet and futurism?
Well, it's more just to do with people who aren't bothered with looking to their own roots. I mean, that's the big debate - just because you're African, it doesn't mean you have to look African. Although, Stiaan Louw is doing sort of deconstructed, torn apart, bleak looking clothes, so he's probably the closest to that, yeah.

JAMIE CLIFTON