Ekpo’s Guide

in this article, we’re looking into some brands of the year 2020 2020 will be remembered as one of the most disruptive years for the fashion industry. With halted productions and physical event cancellations, African designers have found themselves in a particularly vulnerable position. In response to the structural challenges they were faced with, coupled with the newly imposed way of living and consumer behavior shifts They’ve had to rethink their strategies and reorganize their operations. Ekpo has tapped Actual Frame Of Mind to select 10 African designers who have impacted the fashion industry from the continent this year. The fashion platform founded earlier this year by Annick-Ange Logmo has been showcasing the work of Black-owned brands on Instagram with the #BrandOfTheWeek segment, telling the stories of both emerging and established brands. The fashion pioneers selected for the Brands Of The Year 2020 are all innovators who have achieved great performances during this year and positively contributed to the development of the industry on the continent. With a sustainable and authentic approach, these brands have captured global attention and presented their uniqueness across touchpoints. Orange Culture Over the years Orange Culture has become one of the most prominent brands of the Nigerian fashion scene, presenting androgynous wardrobes and pushing the boundaries of masculine representations. Through emotions and creative visualization, Orange Culture wants to break the mold and encourage people to show up as themselves. The brand has strengthened its global presence online by participating in Browns’ Digital Homecoming Festival and being sold on Farfetch, allowing him to promote local craftsmanship. Free The Youth (Ghana) By showcasing the “Do-it-yourself’ culture of Ghana and including socially conscious messages in their designs, the streetwear label has instantly connected to its growing audience and pushed the boundaries of the street fashion scene. This year, the brand teamed up with Daily Paper, an Amsterdam-based African-owned streetwear brand. They hosted a panel discussion for young creatives in Accra in January and ended the year with the release of an exclusive capsule collaboration available at Daily Paper’s pop-up store in Accra.  Rich Mnisi With an accelerated digitalization of the brand and partnerships with global companies like Volvo and Swarovski, the Johannesburg-based designer continues to rise thanks to his mastery of color, technique and fabrics. Through his work, Rich Mnisi bridges the gap between modernity and stories of Africa, thus highlighting South Africa’s heritage and disrupting fashion’s globalized narrative. Loza Maleombho The Ivorian designer founded her brand a decade ago, effortlessly melding traditional craftsmanship and modern aesthetics to honor her history. Continuing to celebrate the paradox and the synergies of tribal aesthetics and futurism, she designed Beyoncé’s iconic “Already” custom monochromatic look for her ‘Black Is King’ film, which caused her sales to spike 300 percent. Vivendii The Nigerian design collective is championing West African streetwear culture, and this year was able to launch its new online store after winning the Metallic Fund grant, a financial support and mentorship initiative dedicated to support Black creatives. The Vogue-endorsed street couture brand’s unique e-commerce store is inspired by the digital world of the 1990s, replicating the formats of Tekken and Windows Solitaire. Thebe Magugu The multi award-winning South African designer has made his brand more tangible and accessible through its online universe and extend its retail footprint. To further the storytelling of his brand, Thebe Magugu has leveraged an app called Verisum which can display fabric composition, pictures of the people who worked on the garment and the general story behind the collection. He has been named as one of six finalists in the 2021 International Woolmark Prize, continuing to showcase ‘Made In Africa’ to the world’. Lisa Folawiyo Dedicated to design integrity and empowering local artisans, Lisa Folawiyo is proving that luxury made in Nigeria can become global. Her innovative use of Ankara fabric allows her to deliver experimental yet wearable collections. The brand has transformed the notion of ready-to-wear in African fashion and elevated the beauty of common fabrics. This year, the Nigerian label has increased its global footprint through strategic partnership with global e-commerce platforms such as Moda Operandi and Farfetch. Tongoro Sarah Diouf uses her brand as a catalyst for change and to empower African manufacturing. The ready-to-wear brand solves the equation between local tailoring, African style and mainstream fashion. By leveraging fashion technology, storytelling and strong imagery, Tongoro has inspired people at a global scale and sets a new standard. With the “Made In Africa” documentary released this year, Tongoro illustrates its journey as a global brand made on the continent, and shines a positive light on the fashion industry in Africa. Kenneth Ize Kenneth Ize has been on a mission to create and inspire future traditions. The Austrian-Nigerian designer merges both of his cultures into his work, combining new design with Nigerian tailoring techniques. Earlier this year he made his Paris Fashion week debut, during which he presented his Autumn/Winter 2020 ready-to-wear collection. His innovative work has been as impactful in Nigeria as in the rest of the world, allowing him to win Arize Fashion Week’s “30 Under 30” prize this year. Atto Tetteh The Ghanaian brand focuses on reinventing traditional Ghanaian textiles, implementing eco-friendly production methods and celebrating Pan-Africanism. From traditional Kente to Fugu clothes, the streetwear brand has showcased the versatility of West African heritage all while defining its own unique aesthetic. Atto Tetteh embodies African modernity by remaining loyal to traditions and enhancing them with a fresh perspective. Written By: Annick-Ange Logmo

In this article, we’ve hand picked 4 brands 4 emerging brands on the African continent. One of the attributes of the African fashion industry is dynamism. African fashion opens its arms to new and exciting cuts, designs, and finishes with a creative sense of approach and an eccentric story to back it up. Transcending all seasons and styles, our passion for fashion as Africans is gradually reaching its peak, and some brands tagged as upcoming are killing this passion with abstract creativity and vogue trends. Here are some of the toppers on Ekpo’s list that will pull double duty, this fashion season and beyond. PEPPER ROW A neo luxury engineered fashion brand curated by Omafume Nemogha to sustain fashion from Africa with eccentric local Nigerian fabrics, trends, mechanized creativity and styles adopted from the Victorian era. Pepper row by Nemogha is a brand for youths who know what to wear and how to wear it It is the parent brand to couture bridal label “Pepper Row Bridal”. Summer Spring 2019 introduced the schmick fashion brand with their first public appearance at Lagos Fashion and Design week and spice honors with their first collection titled RHEGIE, which tells the story of a young kokori girl who creates outfits through the cultural inspiration of the Ibadan people and their African heritage. TJWHO? Founded in 2018 by Nottingham Trent graduate Taju Ibrahim, The Lagos, Nigeria, ready-to-wear and made-to-measure brand was conceived to produce minimalist menswear that blurs the lines between the past, present and future. The aesthetics surrounding the brand is the founder’s Nigerian cultural background and upbringing, as well as his obsession with clean lines, his years of study and his travel experiences. The pioneering menswear brand launched its first collection, “A confluence of Everything,” around May 2019 The collection spoke loudly on the interpretation and blends of native and urban basics while exploring a refreshing side of African, European and Japanese references. KATUSH BY KATUNGUL Timeless, transcendent, casual and versatile is what this Kenyan brand stands for Created by Katungulu Mwendwa – a fashion focus 2019 finalist of the Lagos fashion and design week annual program, the design aesthetic is practical, innovative , contemporary and conscious. ADRGYN|OMO, WORK IN PROGRESS & PEOPLE OF THE TABOO are the only collections produced by this brand and they all relate to individual growth in contrast  to amalgamation. LARRY JAY Founded by Mohammed Jafaru Larry, a 2019 finalist of the Lagos fashion and design week annual program ” Fashion Focus,” Larry Jay is a unisex ready to wear Ghanaian brand of ethical and tribalistic clothes and accessories that speaks volume on unisex wears inspired by nature and various African cultures and Arts. The brand started as a fashion accessory line in 2012, with a rebirth and introduction of fashion clothes in 2016. In 2017, Larry Jay released his debut collection, “Timeless Legacy,” which debuted on the screen of the Accra men’s fashion week that year.

   Would you wear this? Would you wear that? How do you feel when you wear such? These and more are the common reactions to androgynous clothing worldwide most especially in Nigeria, Africa. The boldness of androgynous style can make a person stop, stare, talk, ridicule and laugh at the person possessing such style. However we can’t deny the fact that androgynous style is chic, dramatic and yassss way. 2019 challenges the androgyny style in terms of languages and sees it as an outgrowth of men and women’s wear, further describing it as “cross dressing”, sometimes people think when a woman dresses like a man it gives her power, courage, stamina and projects her as an epitome of feminism in the society but when a man wears a crop top, split pants and other female related wears , he is described  as disgusting, repealing, stupid and drastically a “homosexual”. In a fashion industry that has  steadily been reorganising itself in recent seasons, with some designers merging their men and women’s shows  and others silently ignoring the gender labels of clothes when it comes to celebrity dressing, this  season felt like a restoration of sorts -which means the industry is now taking a gradual leap in eradicating gender specific dressing by merchandising men and women’s wear together so people don’t know what they are actually looking at in a creative synchronisation with main stream acceptance and normalisation of gender identities that once seemed foreign, weird, absurd, gay, unusual, disgusting and gender abusing to some. So when we talk fashion, we like to tell ourselves that everything has been done before. This moment in time, however is decidedly ground-breaking, evenly dramatic, schmick and free from gender abuses. Therefore if it means that men can now wear splits without societal oppression, by all means – can the evolution begin?