The arise of African Fashion Week

African fashion will be boosted with the debut of Fashion Week supported by Arise magazine. African Fashion International (AFI), organisers of the Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban Fashion Weeks, announce Arise Africa Fashion Week. The African Fashion Week is a showcase of the continent’s leading fashion designers at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg taking place from the 12-20th June 2009.

Nduka Obaigbena, group chairman and editor-in-chief of Arise, said: “Arise recently presented the African Fashion Collective at New York Fashion Week. The partnership with African Fashion International (AFI) is a continued celebration of African achievement and an extension of our commitment to recognize and showcase the very best of African creative talent. I firmly believe that Arise Africa Fashion Week will attract an international audience and markets beyond the global African Diaspora. The world’s eyes will be firmly focused on Joburg."

Arise is published by ThisDay, Nigeria's main daily with a circulation of 100,000 copies (120,000 on Sundays) and a daily readership of 4 million. ThisDay entertainment division, ThisDay Live, is known for the music and fashion festivals it has hosted since 2006. International names in music and fashion have participated, many for the first time in Africa, including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, John Legend, Rihanna, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Seal, P. Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Tyson Beckford, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Alek Wek, Liya Kebede and many more.

For the past 14 years, ThisDay Live has produced the ThisDay Awards, which celebrates good governance in Nigerian business and politics, recognizing outstanding leadership in banking, oil, government and other categories. Leaders in business and politics such as Bill Cinton and Howard Dean, former Prime Minister of France, have come to Nigeria to speak and participate in these awards.

US fashion critic, Suzy Menkes, detailed in a recent New York Times article entitled ‘The Bright Continent’, how African inspirations are a dominant theme in current fashion trends and how there is now a new focus on diversity, from model selection to accessories and design.

Arise Africa Fashion Week is a five-year sponsorship agreement with Arise magazine covering African style and culture. Arise launched in February 2009 and is produced in the United Kingdom and distributed internationally. It has confirmed the participation of 50 of the best African fashion designers from 20 countries, from all regions of the continent. The Fashion Week promisses to become an annual event hosted by different countries on the continent following 2010, with Nigeria being tipped for 2011.

Image: David Tlale