Accra Fashion Week hosts west African designers

The fifth edition of Accra Fashion Week brings West African designers gathered for a weekend runway show following last year’s break from the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the runways get busy, the latest local and West African trends are being showcased, and with the huge internet platform, most of these designers know that their designs can be showcased anywhere in the world.

“We are African, so Ghanaian fashion is basically African, but what I do is mix Europe with Africa so you can wear it anywhere, anytime, and you can adapt it to any event and any society” says Yvonne Tawiah, creator of the Yvonne Ex fashion brand.

Some of these designers have also started their operations outside the borders of Ghana and some have also started exporting overseas to attract a larger audience.

Abimbola Bashiru from Ewaroyal Style said “I even have some of my clients in the US. Some of them have African shops, which I stock like what I wear now, and some are made, we call them auto-gele – they are made. So I sell them in bulk , so you can see, so it’s not only in Ghana that they hug aso okay. Outside too, like in the US, they embrace it.”

Virgil Abloh, the leading US fashion designer from Ghana who was the artistic director of menswear for Louis Vuitton, died late November, and some see him as a role model to follow in the fashion industry.

“His role at Lous Vuitton was a job. His role with Off-White was entrepreneurial. And it shows you that, you know, a lot of people here are stuck with, ‘Oh, I’m African. They’re not going to embrace me there. Oh I’m black, they’re racist.’ He shows you that it’s not like that. Everyone has their own culture, everyone has their lifestyle and if you understand marketing and you work like that, you can do it.” , according to Nana A. Tamakloe, managing director of Accra Fashion Week.

Accra Fashion Week is a four-day event where key industry players in West Africa come together to discuss the fashion business and to showcase their designs.