Edited by Christine Checinska, curator of African and Africa diaspora fashion at the V&A, this book offers a unique exploration of how the cultural renaissance following independence evolved into today’s dynamic African fashion revolution.

“We face forward.” —Kwame Nkrumah, April 7, 1960

From Amanda Gorman in kente cloth (courtesy of Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton) on the cover of US Vogue to Naomi Campbell’s outings in Kenneth Ize, African fashion exerts worldwide influence. Africa Fashion explores how radical post-independence social and political reordering sparked a cultural renaissance across the continent. Designers such as Shade Thomas-Fahm, Chris Seydou, Kofi Ansah, and Nina Gessous drew on past traditions, recovered and reinvented them, and so laid the foundation for today’s fashion revolution. The authors then present the work of the new generation of creatives such as Nigerian fashion designer Lisa Folawiyo, Somali visual artist Gouled Ahmed, Ghanaian woven bag maker AAKS, and Kenyan jeweler Ami Doshi Shah. Their work shows that there is no one way to be African and no single African aesthetic.

The contemporary African fashion scene is as diverse and dynamic as the continent itself. With contributions from experts on cloth, fashion, and cultural history, as well as the voices of makers and designers, this inspiring and arresting book offers a window into one of the most innovative, exciting, and thoughtful areas of fashion today.

Includes color illustrations