What Happened in African Fashion This Week.
- Hamza Olalekan Dosunmu
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 1 hour ago
This week’s developments continue to show how Africa’s fashion industry is evolving beyond runway showcases into broader systems focused on business, collaboration, and long-term growth.
The return of Kigali Fashion Week after a multi-year hiatus to the expansion of platforms like Epic Fashion Week, activity across the sector reflects a growing focus on infrastructure, market access, and industry development.
At the same time, brands and organisations continue to shape the industry through sustainability projects, community-led initiatives, international runway presentations, and post-fashion week activations that keep collections and conversations active beyond the runway.
These developments build on wider conversations seen across platforms such as South African Fashion Week and ASFW Nairobi, where the focus increasingly extends beyond visibility toward education, sustainability, manufacturing, and cross-border collaboration.
Together, this week’s movements reflect a fashion industry that is steadily maturing — one focused not only on producing culture, but also on building the systems needed to support, scale, and sustain African fashion globally.
Clearly Invincible brings you the latest weekly African fashion recap.
Fashion Week
Kigali Fashion Week Returns After Multi-Year Hiatus with Expanded Pan-African Focus
Kigali Fashion Week is set to return on 30 May 2026 at The Pinnacle Kigali, marking the comeback of one of Rwanda’s most established fashion platforms following a multi-year hiatus and a broader institutional restructuring.
Last held in 2020 during its 10th anniversary edition, the platform paused operations amid disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and regional health concerns. In the years that followed, organisers repositioned the platform internationally, rebranding it as Kigali International Fashion Week and extending activities into cities including London, Kampala, and Tokyo.
The 2026 return also reflects a leadership transition, following founder John Bunyeshuli handing management rights to LG Events under a seven-year agreement aimed at expanding the platform’s continental reach.
Running under the theme “Culture | Elegance,” this year’s edition moves beyond a single-night runway structure into a week-long programme spanning multiple venues across Kigali from 25–30 May. The expanded format combines fashion presentation with market access, cultural programming, and industry dialogue.
Programming includes a Creative Market and exhibition at ONOMO Hotel Kigali, sustainability and creative economy discussions at Institut Français, and an open-air runway activation titled The Bridge for Fashion in the City at Kigali Universe.
The week will conclude with a premium runway showcase featuring designers from seven African countries, reinforcing the platform’s repositioning as a pan-African fashion destination rather than a nationally focused event.
Participating Rwandan brands include Inkanda by Patrick, Matheo Studios, Do_be Couture, Nunu Fashions, Maison Marie, and Kibessi, alongside designers from Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sierra Leone.
Organisers describe the 2026 edition as both a relaunch and a strategic repositioning of Kigali within Africa’s growing network of fashion capitals, where runway platforms increasingly function as cultural, commercial, and cross-border industry infrastructure.
Event
Epic Fashion Week 2026 Expands Beyond Runway Format with Focus on Industry Development
Epic Fashion Week, formerly known as The Epic Show, is set to return from 22–24 May 2026 at The Podium, positioning itself as a platform centred on designer development, industry access, and long-term ecosystem building.
Announced by founder and producer Sola Oyebade during a virtual press conference, the 2026 edition will feature 50 designers alongside buyers, media professionals, investors, and wider fashion stakeholders.
According to organisers, designer selection was based on criteria including strength of design identity, innovation, business readiness, growth potential, and the ability to translate creative concepts into market-ready collections. The approach reflects a broader repositioning of the platform away from runway visibility alone toward structured industry participation.
Beyond fashion presentations, the programme will incorporate curated exhibitions, networking sessions, and industry-led conversations designed to connect emerging designers with commercial opportunities and institutional support.
Oyebade described the platform as part of a wider ecosystem operating through both Fashions Finest Africa and its development-focused initiative, D4DF, which centres sustainability, innovation, and long-term talent growth.
The event also introduces free public access, widening participation beyond traditional industry audiences and positioning the week as both a professional and community-facing platform.
As African fashion platforms continue evolving into commercial and developmental infrastructure, Epic Fashion Week 2026 reflects a growing shift toward formats designed not only to showcase creativity, but to support scalability, funding access, and industry integration for emerging designers.
Award
Pith Africa Shortlisted for Global Arts Prize Public Vote Category
Global Leaders Institute has opened public voting for the first shortlisted category of the Global Arts Prize, with Pith Africa named among the featured international nominees.
The platform was recognised for its work creating space for African artists, designers, and storytellers to shape contemporary culture on their own terms, reinforcing its positioning within the wider Pan-African creative landscape.
Pith Africa joins a globally distributed shortlist that includes VAWAA, Australian designer Trent Jansen alongside Tanya Singer, Misschiefs, and Zoukak Theatre.
The recognition places Pith Africa within a broader international conversation around cultural infrastructure, community-led creative practice, and alternative models for artistic engagement beyond traditional institutional systems.
Public voting for the category is currently taking place through the organisation’s social media platforms.
Fashion Week
WEAR DARKOS Presents FW Collection at Zurich Fashion Week
WEAR DARKOS, founded by Darko Welbert and Darko Herbert, presented its latest FW collection at Zurich Fashion Week, extending the brand’s international runway presence through a collection centred on texture, structure, and identity.
Styling for the presentation was led by Mr DOWE alongside Anna Regazzoni, shaping a runway narrative that combined experimental silhouettes with street-informed construction and material contrast.
The collection featured fur-textured jumpsuits, corset hoodies, vegan leather looks, camo denim, hand-stitched trousers, painted tailoring, and reconstructed denim pieces. Across the lineup, the brand balanced exaggerated proportions with detailed surface treatments, reinforcing its focus on expressive contemporary menswear.
Key looks included the “Proud Shirt” styled across multiple silhouettes, a lime vegan leather ensemble, crystal hoodies, fur-trimmed outerwear, and hand-painted blazers, reflecting a design language rooted in individuality and visual impact.
The presentation positions WEAR DARKOS within a growing wave of African brands using international fashion week platforms to expand visibility while maintaining strong aesthetic and cultural authorship.
Organisation
Ethical Fashion Initiative and Studio 4 Abidjan Lead Upcycling Workshops for Fashion Students in Abidjan
Ethical Fashion Initiative, in collaboration with Studio 4 Abidjan, has concluded a series of Brillantissim’ Upcycling workshops involving fashion students from EIFP Michèle Yakice and Groupe Carine.
The programme focused on dismantling and reconstructing second-hand garments into exhibition-ready pieces, positioning upcycling as both a creative methodology and a practical professional skill within contemporary fashion education.
Through the workshops, students engaged directly with material reuse, reconstruction techniques, and circular design approaches, reframing discarded garments as resources for new forms of production and storytelling.
One participating student, Esther Yavo of EIFP Michèle Yakice, described the process as an understanding that “nothing is lost, everything is transformed,” reflecting the programme’s emphasis on continuity between traditional knowledge systems and contemporary sustainability practices.
Organisers positioned the workshops not only as skills training, but as a reconnection to long-standing repair and reuse traditions historically embedded within African domestic and craft cultures.
The initiative was supported by Institut Français and Vincent Esclade, with workshop documentation produced by La Team PLS.
Event
After the Runway Extends SAFW SS26 Conversations Through Cape Town Designer Showcase
Following the conclusion of South African Fashion Week, a post-fashion week showcase titled After the Runway brought together a selection of designers for a one-day presentation hosted at Helon Melon’s Woodstock studio in Cape Town.
Curated by Sumendra Chetty, the activation created space for collections first presented during SAFW SS26 to be experienced beyond the runway format, allowing guests and media closer engagement with the garments, materials, and design processes
Participating designers included Dorcas Mutombu of Emelia D, SAFW Scouting Menswear finalist Victoria Ongansie, Michael Ludwig Studio, Artho Eksteen, and Kate Sara Boutique alongside the host brand.
The showcase positioned itself as an extension of fashion week rather than a separate event, reinforcing how collections continue to circulate through community, conversation, and direct public interaction after the runway concludes.
By bringing multiple Cape Town-based brands into a shared presentation environment, After the Runway also highlighted a new generation of South African designers working across varied aesthetics and design approaches while collectively contributing to the city’s evolving fashion ecosystem.
Organisation
The OR Foundation Mobilises Community Cleanup Along Jamestown Coastline
The OR Foundation has carried out a large-scale community cleanup along the Jamestown coastline in Ghana, continuing its ongoing interventions around textile waste and environmental accountability.
Held on 6 May, the activation brought together 198 participants, including individual collectors and volunteers, who collectively removed 30,429kg of textile and mixed waste from the coastline in just over 90 minutes.
The cleanup reflects the scale of the environmental burden created by global textile waste flows, particularly within coastal communities where discarded garments and synthetic materials continue to accumulate at critical levels.
Organisers framed the activation not simply as waste removal, but as a demonstration of collective responsibility and community-led action. Participants worked across sorting, lifting, carrying, and bagging operations, reinforcing the role of grassroots mobilisation within environmental response systems.
The initiative continues The OR Foundation’s broader work connecting fashion waste, environmental justice, and local community infrastructure, particularly in regions disproportionately impacted by the global second-hand clothing trade.
Event
CANEX Opens Applications for Africa at COTERIE New York Programme
Applications are now open for CANEX Presents Africa at COTERIE New York, inviting African, Caribbean, and diaspora designers to showcase their Spring/Summer 2027 collections at one of the fashion industry’s leading contemporary trade events.
Taking place from 9–11 September 2026, the programme offers selected designers access to international buyers, retailers, and media, positioning the initiative as a gateway for brands seeking expansion beyond local markets.
Through the platform, participating designers will have the opportunity to build global industry visibility, establish commercial relationships, and access new market opportunities within the international fashion trade ecosystem.
Organisers describe the initiative as part of a broader effort to strengthen the global presence of African and diaspora fashion businesses through structured market access and international trade exposure.
Applications close on 29 May 2026.