The African continent, comprising 54 countries, has always been a melting pot of different cultures, styles and influences, its fashion DNA expressed in brightly coloured prints (often known as ankara, from kikoi to kente) traditional textiles and intricate beading.

Helping to decode the continent’s style is new book Africa: The Fashion Continent, by West African native Emmanuelle Courrèges, (published this month by Flammarion). Courrèges profiles the effervescence of the current fashion scene, from the runways in Lagos to the Afropunk festival in Johannesburg, and explains how contemporary African fashion designers are pulling from a cornucopia of history-rich textiles, using them in modern renderings and silhouettes.

Designer Lafalaise Dion wearing a cowrie-shell headdress from her collection. Photograph by Daron Bandeira.

Influential African designers include Shade Thomas-Fahm, often referred to as Nigeria’s first fashion designer, who set the pace for the Nigerian fashion industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Not only did she champion working in fashion as a way to achieve economic freedom, but she also re-imagined the traditional iro (a wrapped skirt) with a concealed zip, created the sewn gele (a wrapped head-tie) and created a female version of the men’s flowing agbada robe.

Other designers of note include Chris Seydou who has promoted African textiles like the bògòlanfini on the global stage; Kofi Ansah who fused African and European aesthetics, famously designing a garment for Princess Anne and collaborating with Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani; Alphadi, called the “Magician of the Desert”, who made clothes for Hillary Clinton and Michael Jackson and the pioneering Naïma Bennis, who paired Moroccan silhouettes with French couture fabrics.

Iman Ayissi AW19.

These designers and (45) others will be profiled in “Africa Fashion”, an exhibition at London’s V&A Museum, from July 2, comprising over 250 pieces including the work of current stars. One of whom is Artsi, of Maison ArtC, who says: “Africa Fashion means the past, the future and the present at the same time. The joy of life and the joy of colour is completely different and very particular to the continent. It’s a language of heritage, it’s a language of DNA, it’s a language of memories.”

Helping promote African fashion on the global scene via striking visuals and editorials are Ib Kamara, editor-in-chief of Dazed and Edward Enninful, the Ghanian editor of British Vogue, as well as Brother Vellies founder and creative director Aurora James (the designer behind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s MET Gala dress “Tax the Rich”).

Models at Lagos Fashion Week, 2019.

This summer many of us will want to wear the swimwear of Iyamah – a self-taught Nigerian designer whose coveted cossies are sold on Moda Operandi. She says, “Being a Nigerian girl and being an African girl, I always questioned why African or Nigerian design wasn’t international. At that time, it was all bespoke. It wasn’t ready-to-wear. I wanted a situation where the whole world had access to our design and our inspiration. How do I spread the African narrative even further, in a modern and receivable way that’s not watered down and still honours tradition?”

Former Vogue International editor Suzy Menkes answers this question: “There are two reasons why ‘Africa’ and ‘luxury’ should appear in the same sentence. The first is a new vision of what luxury means in the 21st century. Consumers, particularly in the western hemisphere, are beginning to prize objects touched by human hands – and the handwork in Africa is exceptional. From the work that the Tuaregs have done for Hermès to the bags that are created in Kenya for Ilaria Fendi and for Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, African hands make artistic pieces, often with the added bonus of being sustainable and also ethical.”