The African continent, known for its rich history and culture, shows off its beauty in fashion through the interpretation and influence of colour, texture and style. From natural hair styles, beaded jewelry to the patterns, prints, dyes and cuts of fabric, African Fashion has found its place on main stream runways and the general public has embraced this phenomenon. African inspired fashion makes a statement, it is bold and vibrant, paying homage to the Continent and its rich culture and people. The prints and patterns have meaningful symbols that tell a story through time with messages of power, honour and philosophy. African Fashion and design is not new, it dates back to the various tribes and the way they identified themselves to each other, as various prints were respective of origin. Patterns and textures varied based on surroundings, roles, climate and availability of resources. The famous Kente cloth was inspired by the movement of a spider spinning its web and hunters decided to duplicate this through the use of fibers from the raffia tree. The Head wraps were worn not just for protection of the hair but was a way to highlight beauty and facial features. African pride and beauty is exalted by the woman donned with a head wrap, one’s gaze is fixed up rather than down.

As the coordinating committee for all things African, we decided to highlight the beauty of African woman as part of our Emancipation celebrations 2015. Themed Qurux Fasion, local designers like Sean Griffith Perez, Christian Boucaud, The Cloth, Andre Lovelace, Kathleen Derrick, Lecthris Holder-Lewis, Assefa Martin, Ann Marie Alexis, Josephine Hayford and Deron Attzs showcased vibrant African collections.  In addition, traditional fashion from Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia was presented.  Modupe Onilu, Johan Mohammed, Ken Cooper, Nzingha Salandy also complemented the African collections with their handmade jewellery.