4 Emerging African Fashion Designers to Watch in 2023

As African fashion continues to blossom, these are some of the names to keep a close eye on in the months to come.

Much of the buzz around African fashion today isn’t accidental. Africa’s design talent has been on the rise, as seen across the continent’s staging of various fashion weeks. At the Spring/Summer ‘22 shows for South African Fashion Week, a new talent search had young designers like Mikhile du Plessis and Sanelisiwe Gcabashe showcasing worthy-of-note collections.

Lagos Fashion Week, too, with its talent discovery platform, Green Access, presented a roster of new designers to watch: from Ghana’s Meta Kay to Nigeria’s Oshobor and Pettre Taylor, and South Africa’s SVL Designs. These next-gen labels appear to have distinct philosophies towards the design process.

Whether it is experimenting with textures and prints, reviving traditional crafts and textiles, or operating within ethical techniques like upcycling, these new designers are charting their own path in the industry. While there are names that caught our attention in 2022, others have equally shown promise with off-calendar presentations or modest campaigns. In 2023, here are a handful of the designers we are excited to watch.

SOURCE : OKAY AFRICA