Featured Designers

The exhibition Fashion Cities Africa sought to provide a snapshot of fashion and style practices in four major cities at the compass points of the African continent: Casablanca (Morocco), Nairobi (Kenya), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Lagos (Nigeria). In doing so it presented the work of several key ‘fashion agents’ associated with each city. These agents included designers, stylists, photographers and bloggers, all of whom revealed something unique and compelling about the role of fashion in that city. Some featured designers, such as Amaka Osakwe (of the label Maki Oh) have an established international following, other creatives – like Joburg-based The Sartists and Nairobi-based 2 Many Siblings – adopt a local aesthetic to speak to a global audience, while documenters of fashion, like Casablanca-based photographer Joseph Ouechen use visual storytelling to shine a light on local practices of self-styling.

Click through to learn more about the stories and inspirations of some of these creative individuals, and for professional images of outfits, clothes and accessories, arranged in their original Fashion Cities Africa ‘looks’ and shot by photographer Tessa Hallmann.

Hi-resolution images are available for download from our Digital Media Bank.

Adele Dejak is founder of luxury accessories and lifestyle brand ‘Adèle Dejak’. Dejak uses local materials – hide, horn and
Nigeria’s most enduring fashion brand, Deola Sagoe began her fashion label in 1989. In 2014 her daughters launched the Clan
Maria McCloy is a journalist, publicist and accessories designer. She seeks to infuse African aesthetics into fashion and collaborates with
 Marianne Fassler is the founder of womenswear label Leopard Frock which has influenced the South African fashion scene for over
Said Mahrouf standing in a morroccan street with palm trees, wearing a white shirt and sunglasses
Said Mahrouf was born in Morocco and moved to the Netherlands as a young child. After studying fashion in Amsterdam
 Sunny Dolat is a fashion consultant and stylist. Preferring to work with local designers and makers, Dolat is a powerful
Four stylish young men stood in the street in front of a wall with pink columns
Kabelo Kungwane, Andile Buka, Wanda Lephoto and Xzavier Zulu are the Sartists, a creative collective.
Thula Sindi is one of South Africa’s leading designers. After graduation he worked for luxury wax printed fabric manufacturer Vlisco