What Happened in African Fashion This Week
- Hamza Olalekan Dosunmu
- 5 hours ago
- 5 min read
Activity across the continent shaped this week’s fashion scene. South African Menswear Week marked its tenth year with a full schedule of runway presentations and industry programming, while Windhoek Fashion Week opened with a cultural showcase highlighting Ovaherero and Himba dress traditions. Soweto Fashion Week continued its focus on emerging talent, bringing over a hundred designers to the Johannesburg stage.
In commercial and industry updates, Lagos Fashion Week announced a digital trunk show partnership with Industrie Africa, and Africa Sourcing & Fashion Week concluded its 2025 edition in Addis Ababa with exhibitors and stakeholders from more than forty countries.
On the topic of awards and recognition, the OR Foundation’s Yayra Agbofah was named to the TIME100 Climate Leaders list, and Lagos Fashion Week received The Earthshot Prize for its circularity-focused programmes.
Clearly Invincible brings you the latest in our weekly African fashion recap. Here's everything that happened this week.
Event.
South African Menswear Week Marks 10th Year With Strong Showcase of Design and Community
South African Menswear Week, a showcase of vision, community, and craft. In the moment when South African fashion needed to make a statement, South African Menswear Week(SAMW) delivered creativity and conviction.
The spring/summer 26 show hosted by Fashion Council and Group of Creatives at Wonderland Studios, this year’s edition offered more beyond the runway. The city of Cape Town buzzed with design energy as SAMW coincided with Cape Town Design
Week, where South African labels like Sindiso Khumalo and Rowdy proudly sat at the intersection of fashion and craft.
Across the five days, over 40 designers from emerging talents to household names showcased collections that explored contemporary tailoring. There was texture and details: beaded handbags, ostrich-skin capes, and silhouettes that balanced softness and sharpness.
What resonated most wasn’t just the clothes, it was the community. Designers, stylists, and artisans gathered in one space to give a reminder that creativity in South Africa is not in short supply. Even amid economic strain and the paused South African Fashion Week, SAMW became a rallying point.
Fashion Week.
Windhoek Fashion Week Opens With Ovaherero Showcase and Industry Gathering
The 10th edition of MTC Windhoek Fashion Week opened with the Ovaherero Traditional Show, presenting one of Namibia’s most recognisable dress traditions on the runway. The structured hats, full skirts, leatherwork, and accessories highlighted a style closely tied to community identity. The showcase also featured Himba women, whose dress traditions carry longstanding cultural continuity.
Alongside the opening presentation, the event brought together designers, local and international brands, models, show producers, makeup artists, media, stylists, jewellery crafters, and fashion enthusiasts. As one of Namibia’s key fashion platforms, the week created space for both cultural expression and industry participation.
Collaboration.
Lagos Fashion Week Partners With Industrie Africa for Limited Digital Trunk Show
Lagos Fashion Week has announced a new collaboration with Industrie Africa, extending the reach of its 2025 season through a 30-day digital trunk show. The partnership brings 20 collections from the runway to an online retail format, offering selected pieces exclusively through Industrie Africa.
The initiative provides designers with expanded visibility and a direct route to consumers across
the continent and abroad. It also marks an ongoing effort to connect African fashion presentations with wider commercial
platforms, ensuring the work seen in Lagos continues into the buying cycle.
Fashion Week.
Soweto Fashion Week Showcases Spring/Summer Collections in Johannesburg
Soweto Fashion Week held its Spring/Summer shows at the Soweto Theatre in Johannesburg, bringing together emerging and established designers from across South Africa. Founded in 2011 by Stephan Manzini, the platform was created to support township-based talent and expand access to the fashion industry.
This year’s edition featured work from over 120 designers and included contributions from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college students. The collections reflected a range of local influences and contemporary interpretations
of South African style.
Soweto Fashion Week continues to serve as a platform focused on visibility, skills development, and the wider growth potential of South Africa’s fashion sector.
Award.
The Revival's Yayra Agbofah Named to TIME100 Climate Leaders List
TIME Magazine has named Yayra Agbofah, founder of The Revival, among its 100 Most Influential
Climate Leaders in the world. His work is in Kantamanto Market, Ghana’s major hub for secondhand
clothing and textile reuse.
The recognition highlights the contributions of the community of sorters, repairers, carriers, and
creatives who sustain the reuse economy in Kantamanto. Their daily labour within the secondhand
clothing system has shaped a model of material recovery and circular practice in response to
global overproduction. Agbofah’s inclusion on the list marks an acknowledgment of the environmental and social efforts
from Kantamanto and the broader work being done within Ghana’s reuse and repair ecosystem.
Collection.
Banke Kuku Introduces “Savannah” Collection
Banke Kuku has unveiled the Savannah Collection, a presentation informed by the landscapes and wildlife of Northern Nigeria. The collection references the region’s environmental features and integrates motifs drawn from its natural ecosystem.
This translates references into prints, silhouettes, and coordinated sets. Presented as a study of place and atmosphere,
Savannah” continues the brand’s ongoing exploration of location-based narratives through textile design.
The body of work explores South Africa’s creative nostalgia, referencing the country’s Skhothane subculture, street comedians, and 2000s style. The new collection and accompanying short film position Meji Meji as a cross-country innovator deeply connected to Africa’s creative landscape.
Event.
Africa Sourcing & Fashion Week 2025 Highlights Textile and Apparel Growth in Addis Ababa
The 11th edition of Africa Sourcing & Fashion Week (ASFW) took place at the Addis International Convention
Center in Addis Ababa. The event, considered one of the continent’s largest trade fairs for textiles, apparel, and sourcing,
gathered more than 200 exhibitors and visitors from over 40 countries.
Alongside the trade exhibition, ASFW hosted its annual conference program, which remains one of the most significant industry discussion forums in Africa. Speakers and stakeholders from across the textile and apparel value chain examined developments in manufacturing, sourcing, logistics, and sustainability
Organizers noted the sector’s continued expansion, with Africa’s textile and apparel market growing at an estimated rate of 5 percent annually. Discussions also highlighted efforts across the continent to strengthen competitiveness through improved production environments, workforce development, and investment in sustainable practices.
The event’s programming included fashion shows, design competitions, and award ceremonies,
bringing attention to the role of textiles, leather, and apparel in driving regional economic activity.
Award.
Lagos Fashion Week Wins Earthshot Prize for Advancing Circular Fashion Systems
Lagos Fashion Week was named the winner of The Earthshot Prize: Build a Waste-Free World, recognising its efforts to develop circular systems within Africa’s fashion sector. Designers showing under the platform work within defined guidelines covering ethical material sourcing, low-impact production, and waste-addressing interventions. The initiative targets structural issues linked to overproduction and overconsumption, two drivers of global fashion waste. The £1M award will fund expanded
programmes and operational frameworks aimed at strengthening long-term circularity across the ecosystem.
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