“P.Key”: mixtage as social experiment

Pinda Kida is a Rome-based designer and the founder of the haute couture brand P.Key. Born in France to Malian parents and raised in Rome, Kida designs ethical garments for resilient and empowered women. Claiming multiple origins – Malian, French, and Italian – she views fashion design as a tool to explore the connections between places and cultures and overcome …

(Fashion) stories of migration: MasaMara Wear

I’ve been on a long hiatus, developing a parallel project on sustainability, migration, and decolonisation in collaboration with the Black&White: The Migrant Trend platform. The following is based on a remote interview I did on 12 November, 2021 with Nyambo MasaMara, who is one of the case studies of this new project. Please, do not cite without permission. MasaMara is the …

“Creativity In Motion” by Daniel Obasi

Nigerian stylist and photographer Daniel Obasi has recently collaborated with Vogue on an international project capturing Creativity in motion in various international locations. He shot the editorial on the railway tracks at Ebute-Metta, in his home city of Lagos, for Vogue’s March 2021 issue. Obasi is known for his arresting representations of moving bodies, which happen to be wrapped in beautiful outfits. The clothes highlight …

Talents: Sel Kofiga, The Slum Studio

The Slum Studio – IG @theslumstudio – is a Ghanaian brand that creates wearable art pieces with clothing waste sourced in Accra. Its model of sustainability applies circularity, regeneration, and ethical standards to art-making and is informed by a reflection on human geographies and the socially-produced nature of space. The garments are material maps of multiple journeys and the realities …

“Skin colour matters”: stylist tackles persistent discrimination in South Africa

Vusie Shabalala (@vusieshabba), the Soweto-based stylist whom I wrote about in July, has just released the first part of a new visual project entitled “Skin color matters” on Instagram. Vusie anticipated it to me in August and I’m happy to share a sneak peek on Afrosartorialism. Racism and colorism are a topic that the 25-year old stylist feels strongly about. …

Ghana’s design scene hails from 2035: @MohammedBlakk

Mohammed Osumanu, 29, is a fashion stylist, designer, and artist from Accra who describes himself as as “a guy determined to push African art and fashion beyond boundaries”. The founder of the brand Afronative, Mohammed, aka @MohammedBlakk, is also one of the four #KvngsOfTheNewSchool, a crew of self-described “art citizens” advancing “an inclusive movement of afrocentric people who wish to …

Talents: Vusie Shabba on being an emerging stylist in South Africa

Vusimuzi Terrence Shabalala, or Vusie Shabba as he prefers to be called, is a fashion stylist, events organizer, influencer, innovative, dreamer of 25. He was born in Soweto Meadowlands and has been based in Braamficher since 2007. Who is Vusie Shabba and what is your history? I grew up participating in a lot of life skills activities, I grew up …

TALENTS – CLINT MALIK PUTS NAIROBI ON THE BLACK FUTURIST MAP (interview)

Clinton Malik is a creative, style blogger and fashion model from Kenya with a visionary style that mixes afrofuturism and nostalgia. Since starting “Be your own creation” (BYOC) in May 2015, a brand promoting originality, creativity and self-worth through fashion, travel, art and music, he has built a solid reputation as a community-focused stylist and a big following on social …

TALENTS – THEOPHILUS MARBOAH: “ECHOES AND AGREEMENTS”

Theo Marboah, a student of medicine at Pavia University, has a passion for contemporary African and Afrodiasporic visual culture. I had the chance to hear Theo speak in Palermo at Resignifications: The Black Mediterranean, where he introduced “Echoes and Agreements” (“Echi and Accordi” in Italian), an ongoing digital experiment that uses diptychs to bring together archival images from the Black diaspora …

TALENTS – AN INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL OBASI

Daniel Obasi (Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram) is a 23 year old stylist, photographer, and art director from Abia and now based in Lagos, who is being hailed as one a prolific representative of the New African Aesthetics movement. Daniel has shot and styled a number of iconic fashion campaigns and collaborated with national and international brands, most notably Vlisco on the …