What Happened in African Fashion This Week
- bolaji akinwande
- Mar 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 17
This week's roundup of what happened in African fashion features important opportunities for fashion creatives. From the opening of a new creative space in Lagos to the New HEVA Funds open to East Africans, here is everything that happened in Fashion from the Continent this week.
Personality
NIGERIAN MODEL, OLOLADE AYELABOLA, SETS GUINNESS WORLD RECORD.
Ololade Ayelabola, a Nigerian model, has set the Guinness World Record for the longest distance walked on a catwalk by a model. Back in October 2024, she spent four days walking over 77.74 miles. On Monday, March 10th, the Guinness World Record officially certified her as the record holder for the milestone.
Event
NIGERIA'S FIRST FASHION JOB CENTRE, BRIDGE BY OBSIDIAN, OPENS
The Bridge by Obsidian, founded by Damilola Ademilokun, is a creative space targeted to bring together fashion creatives. The new space, which will open on March 15th in Lagos, will create opportunities for creatives and entrepreneurs in the Nigerian fashion industry to create, grow, and thrive. The Bridge by Obsidian space includes facilities like the Fashion Job Centre, Co-working/private offices, Podcast Studio, and Fashion Skills Test Centre, in addition to Training and Event Spaces.
Collaboration
NIGERIAN BRANDS, SÉ ADEOYE AND MAIRACHAMP, UNVEIL NEW "ARIYA" COLLECTION
Sé Adeoye is a Nigerian ethical fashion brand founded in 2022. The brand is known for creating bridal, bespoke, ready-to-wear, footwear, and accessories pieces. Their latest collection "Ariya" draws inspiration from the vibrant spirit of celebration and features stunning pieces like footwear made from așo òkè a floral corset top and a stunning headpiece-gele. Sé Adeoye has also collaborated with Mairachamp (a Nigerian fashion accessory brand)for their new collection. This collaboration features Mairachamp's beaded signature bags serving as a standout accessory for pieces from the "Ariya" collection.
Organisation
KENYA'S HEVA FUNDS UNVEIL $5 MILLION GRANT FOR 7,000 AFRICAN CREATIVES
The HEVA FUND initiative was founded in 2013 and has been instrumental in supporting creative-led and women-focused enterprises. The initiative's latest feat involves financing over 7,000 young creatives with the "Ota Kopa and Ota Kopa Plus" loans with a total of five million dollars. This loan will cater to and support creatives like content creators, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, game developers, make-up artists, fashion designers, and many others in Eastern Africa.
Collaboration
SOUTH AFRICAN FASHION RETAILER MR PRICE COLLABORATES WITH ART CLUB AND FRIENDS FOR LIMITED-EDITION PIECES
Mr Price, a fashion retailer store in South Africa, has collaborated with Artclub and Friends, an independent urban brand for a limited-edition collection. This collection features pieces ranging from denim pants, denim two-pieces, crossbags, caps, and totes. The collaboration aims to be accessible to a larger audience while also being affordable.
Sustainability
VYNT, AFRICA'S FIRST ONLINE FASHION MARKETPLACE FOR PRE-LOVED CLOTHES, LAUNCHES MOBILE APP
VYNT is a thrift marketplace where fashion lovers can buy and sell new or pre-loved fashion items. The platform which soft-launched in December 2024, aims to foster sustainability and is helping to spearhead thrifting digitally. VYNT launched its app this week which is available for download on any device from Google Play Store and App Store.
Awards
JOSHUA ATTAT (NIGERIA) AND YAYRA AGOFAH (GHANA) HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS FINALISTS FOR THE H&M GLOBAL CHANGE AWARDS
The Global Change Award by the H&M Foundation aims at honoring bold and beginner innovators who are helping to reduce carbon emissions and drive transformation around fashion practices. This year, two African innovators, Joshua Attat and Yayra Agbofah, are both part of the top 20 finalists for the Global Change Award. These finalists will be assessed and ten winners will be announced in May 2025.
Attat is a Nigerian innovator and the founder of Pneedles, a sustainable brand that makes buttons out of plastic waste. Agbofah is the founder of The Revival Circularity Lab, a community initiative transforming textile waste in Ghana's prominent Kantamanto Market.
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