BEAUTY AND FASHION - The African Mirror

May

09

2026

All aboard the Gautrain Couture Express

BEAUTY AND FASHION

NOBODY told the commuter at Park Station that Thursday morning that he would become an accidental front-row guest at one of the most unexpected fashion moments in South African history. He was just trying to get to Sandton. He had a nine o'clock. He had a cortado in one hand and mild existential dread in the other. What he did not have - what none of us had - was adequate preparation for what David Tlale had planned for the Gautrain. Because on 6 May 2026, South Africa's sleekest, most reliable, most WiFi-having public transit system became something it had…

Mar

05

2026

By KATHY SHORT FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY

Nkanda Yatu, the brand weaving Zambian identity into global fashion

BEAUTY AND FASHION, MULTIMEDIA

IN a sleek studio off a busy road in Lusaka, a team of tailors and designers work carefully over fabric and beadwork, preparing garments for both local and international customers. Nkanda Yatu, founded by designer Kabaso Nkandu, is among a number of Zambian fashion brands seeking to expand beyond domestic markets while promoting local identity. The name Nkanda Yatu, meaning “Our Skin” in the Bemba language, reflects a focus on culture and self-expression. According to Nkandu, fashion provides a platform for storytelling. “I wanted to communicate a Zambian story through art, and fashion became that medium,” Nkandu said. Over the…

Feb

10

2026

By STAFF REPORTER

Cape Town gets ready to serve looks, business & a whole lot of fabric: Allfashion Sourcing 2026 is coming

BEAUTY AND FASHION

DARLING, mark your calendars in metallic ink – Africa's chicest business affair is back If you thought July was just for winter coats and hot chocolate, think again. From 14–16 July 2026, the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC 2) is about to become the most fashionable address on the continent as Allfashion Sourcing Cape Town 2026 struts back into town. This isn't your cousin's craft market, honey. We're talking about Africa's premier sourcing platform, where textile dreams meet manufacturing reality, where fabric swatches shake hands with spreadsheets, and where "sustainable fashion" isn't just something you say to sound intelligent at…

Dec

16

2025

By VERA OKOH FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY

How Chimamanda Adichie’s hair stylist went natural

BEAUTY AND FASHION

HAPPINESS Okorie’s dream came true in July 2025 when global literary icon Chimamanda Adichie travelled to Enugu and visited Okorie's salon to get her hair done. Okorie packed Adichie’s coiled tresses into a crown-like updo. Adichie smiled, turning her head from side-to-side to look at what Okorie had created. After the session, Okorie showed Adichie a copy of Adichie's book, “Half of a Yellow Sun.” In the back, Okorie had written, five years before: “Dear Chimamanda, this is to let you know that someday, I will style your hair.” The moment of the two women embracing each other after Okorie's…

Nov

21

2025

By ERIC BIANTUDI, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Rebecca Zoro: Weaving Ivorian Heritage into Global Fashion

BEAUTY AND FASHION

INSIDE a workshop bordering her family’s rubber plantation on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivorian designer Rebecca Zoro is busy tapping into her creative roots. Global celebrities such as Beyoncé have worn her clothes under her label Yhebe Design. Currently, she is retreating from attending glitzy, glamorous events to concentrate on her next collection. After studying fashion design at Collège LaSalle Maroc in Morocco, Zoro started Yhebe Design in 2015 to capitalise on an industry with massive economic potential in Africa. With the global apparel market valued in the trillions, Africa’s share of annual textile, clothing, and footwear exports was only…

Jul

17

2025

By ELIZABETH ANGIRA

East Africa’s fashion identity emerges, spurred by integration policies

BEAUTY AND FASHION

“EVERY fabric I use has crossed a border, carrying culture, craft, and connection,” remarked fashion designer Mary Wamboi. Wamboi received a shipment of earthy Ugandan bark cloth just hours after the arrival of a consignment of vibrant Tanzanian kanga fabrics. The fabrics, along with an order of Kenyan Maasai beads, are for her latest connection. She described the clothes that she makes as “East African stories.” “We are building something bigger than ourselves,” she says, “This isn’t just about fashion, it is about who we are as a region.” Wamboi exemplifies the burgeoning cross-border collaboration among players in the East…

Jun

19

2025

By VELMA PAMELA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Kenyan designer transforms beach litter to sustainable fashion

BEAUTY AND FASHION

ENVIRONMENTAL concerns are increasingly shaping the fashion sector across Africa. According to the African Circular Economy Alliance, launched in 2021, over 40 percent of garments in several African countries are imported secondhand, with much of it ending up in landfills due to poor quality or oversupply. According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s 2020 report, Sub-Saharan Africa generates more than 17 million tons of waste annually, with textile and plastic waste accounting for an increasing proportion of this waste. Along sections of the East African coastline, discarded fishing nets lay in knots among the rocks. Plastic bag remnants cling stubbornly…

May

27

2025

By ADWOA OWUSUAA BOBIE

Lagos fashion: how designers make global trends uniquely Nigerian

BEAUTY AND FASHION

AFRICAN fashion has flourished in terms of creativity and innovation in recent years, and is attracting global attention. Designers and labels are churning out garments that reflect African cities and how they interact with global trends. Think Nigeria’s Ejiro Amos Tafiri and Mai Atafo, Ghana’s Christie Brown and Larry Jay, Kenya’s Ikojn or South Africa’s Boyde. Cities like Lagos, Accra, Marrakesh, Nairobi and Johannesburg have become global fashion capitals. They’re fashion production hubs that are creating styles that mirror their cosmopolitanism, their vibrant mix of nationalities. In a recent study, I focus on how fashion in Lagos mirrors the bustling…

Mar

04

2025

By DICKSON ADOM

What are the origins of the Asante’s famous kente cloth? I traced its history to find out`

BEAUTY AND FASHION

KENTE is a prestigious royal cloth of Ghana’s Asante people, part of their historical and cultural heritage. But there’s a debate about where it originated: the Bonwire community or the Adanwomase community in the Ashanti Region. The Conversation Africa spoke to African art and culture researcher Dickson Adom about the origins of this world-famous textile. What is Asante kente and why is it unique? Asante kente is a cloth that embodies the cultural heritage and history of the Asante people. The Asantes are a major ethnic group in Ghana with a history dating back centuries. The cloth is known for…

Feb

07

2025

By SYLVIE AYIMPAM

Congo’s stylish sapeur movement goes beyond fashion – 5 deeper insights

BEAUTY AND FASHION

IN the two Congos, there’s a cultural movement by the Society of Ambience-Makers and Elegant People (Sape), known as “sapeurs”, who blend fashion, culture and social resistance. Though it was rooted primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo, the movement is now spreading worldwide, through Congolese migration. As a researcher, I have studied Sape in its cultural, social and symbolic dimensions. Sape is far more than a fashion trend. Here are five key things to know about this movement. 1. The history of Sape Sape emerged during the colonial era, first in Brazzaville and…