Percy Onyeka
A lineup of African designers made their debut or return, from runway shows to showroom exhibitions.
New York Fashion Week still stands as one of the world’s premier fashion events. A grand stage for
displaying the best American designers and beyond, the bi-annual showcase (held in February and
September), is also a hot pipeline into the U.S. market.
At several points, African designers have popped on the NYFW radar, showing their collections on the catwalk.
Nigeria’s Maki Oh made her debut in 2012, likewise industry paragons David Tlale and Deola Sagoe from South Africa and Nigeria respectively, in 2014.
But these designer debuts owe it to the watershed moment in the late aughts. In 2009, a contingent of African designers took a bite out of the Big Apple.
For the first time in NYFW’s history, African brands namely Stoned Cherrie (South Africa), Xuly Bet
(Mali), Momo Couture (Nigeria), and Tiffany Amber (Nigeria) were received in the Bryant Park tents as part of the African Fashion Collective.
Barack Obama had been sworn in as America’s first Black president a month before, and it was deemed by the fashion public as the “Obama Effect.”
These designers dispelled homogenous narratives about Africa through their presentations, shining a light on the creativity and craftsmanship the continent had to offer.
NYFW will never be the same.
African designers have continued to make inroads since then. NYFW’s February schedule for Fall 2023 had included Nigeria’s Head of State and Tia Adeola.
Both brands are returning this September, the latter in the lineup for the eighth outing of The Black in Fashion Council Discovery Showroom.
Techrectory with Agency Report.
