If you haven’t heard of Vlisco, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen their fabrics at least once!
They are the leading manufacturers of African print material and have been since 1846.
So why am I writing about it?
Because they’re not African!
That’s right, they’re Dutch (well actually, originally Dutch but owned by a private equity firm with headquarters in London). Go figure!
I don’t know about you, but I personally think it’s a little weird when leading “African” lights aren’t actually African!
African fashion is making it big on runways and other places both regionally and internationally.
A case in point is the Beyonce and Alicia Keys video for “Put it in a love song” (what do you mean you haven’t seen the stills from it?!). In case you’re wondering, the clothes in that video were designed by African American Maya Lake, founder of Boxing Kitten.
What I’m now wondering is how many African designers are also profiting from this global trend? I suspect the answer is not too many.
Then there are the calls by some quarters for a Vogue Africa magazine.
What is that about?
Are we of the view that our designers are not getting sufficient exposure? That our designs aren’t good enough to make it into the “real” Vogue and so we should have almost an affirmative action mag done for us? Or that we’ll only feel we’re really designers when that category of media says so?
I get the distinct feeling that we’ve almost reached a point where we (and by we I mean African designers) are seeking validation from a cross-section of society that isn’t our intended audience anyway!
I’m one of those people who believe if you’re good enough, you can make it to the top regardless of the obstacles.
But maybe I’m just lucky not to have come across many insurmountable obstacles. I’m also not an insider to the international fashion industry so my opinion is hardly informed.
What I am glad about, though, is that there are now more fora for talented African designers to showcase their talent (see a previous post on fashion shows in Africa).
My final question is – are these designers being exposed to the people who really care, that is, the people who’ll ultimately buy their designs?
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