Favoured by Beyonce and Aya Nakamura, Ivory Coast’s fashion industry is gaining international attention through social media.
Its leading designers, however, have no intention of leaving Abidjan to build their careers abroad.
Beyonce’s stylist contacted Abidjan-based designer Loza Maleombho after discovering her handmade creations on Instagram. Following years of discussions, the US superstar wore Maleombho’s black-and-white print jacket, fastened with gold Baoule mask clasps, in her 2020 music video “Already”.
The jacket reached 70 million YouTube viewers.
“It was truly indescribable,” the 40-year-old designer said.
Maleombho, who has also dressed Beyonce’s sister Solange and singer Kelly Rowland, began using local materials because she felt African cultural codes, textiles and aesthetics were underrepresented in international fashion.
Her preferred materials include jute and traditional woven fabrics such as cotton Baoule pagne and cotton-silk Kita pagne, whose origins stretch back to the Ashanti Kingdom across present-day Ivory Coast and Ghana. Her designs combine tradition with modern elegance.
Abidjan has become a leading African fashion hub as expanding middle classes and e-commerce broaden designers’ customer base. UNESCO estimates that demand for African fashion products will rise by 42 percent over the coming decade.
Designer Elie Kuame, whose fashion house in Cocody is approaching its 20th anniversary, is another champion of African creativity. Pagnes account for half the fabric he uses, while his dazzling dresses are carefully sewn, beaded and embroidered in his Abidjan workshop.
The weaving traditions behind these colourful textiles, practised by several Ivorian communities, are recognised by UNESCO as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage.
Kuame insists his creations are not “haute couture”, an exclusive, legally protected category governed by France’s haute couture trade association.
“We have no desire to be certified by a French trade association,” he said.
Instead, Kuame created his own label of excellence, Born in Africa, and founded Abidjan Fashion Week, one of about 30 platforms across the continent where African designers present collections to buyers, media and fashion enthusiasts.
Although he participates in Paris and New York fashion weeks, Kuame remains based in Ivory Coast. “My aim is to contribute to developing the industry here,” he said.
Fellow Ivorian designer Ibrahim Fernandez describes fashion as Africa’s “soft power”, arguing that its designers are every bit as capable as their international counterparts.
Their creations can cost from several hundred to several thousand dollars, placing them beyond the reach of most people in a country where the minimum monthly wage is about $130. Nevertheless, their studios create jobs, showcase Ivorian creativity and generate national pride.
This summer, Fernandez exhibited at Parisian department store Galeries Lafayette during an event celebrating African design. He has dressed rappers Youssoupha and Black M, as well as Malian-born Aya Nakamura, the world’s most-streamed Francophone singer.
For Nakamura’s May concert at the Stade de France, Fernandez and fellow Abidjan designer LaFalaise Dion created a sparkling dress adorned with cowrie shells, pearls and gemstones. She wore it before more than 70,000 spectators.
“It was incredible, an unexpected moment, a moment of joy,” Fernandez said.— AFP
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