The clothes that maketh the continent

A new generation of African fashion designers is proving that the continent’s couture is about more than just bright colours, tribal patterns and leopard print.

Posted 14 Dec 14 By Design Indaba African Design • Fashion & Jewellery Design RoundUp / Focus On Comments

Here are four designers who are breaking the mould.

Pushing the fashion frontiers

Senegalese fashion designer Selly Raby Kane is winning over the world with her truly contemporary, even futuristic fashion collections. Raby Kane is also the president of a progressive creative collective, called Les Petites Pierres, in Dakar. Here we profile the group. See her Fall/Winter 2014 collection titled "Alien Cartoon" here.

Redefining the revolution

Taibo Bacar's A Luta Continua fashion collection showcased at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa 2014 signalled an evolutionary shift for this young Mozambican fashion designer. See the collection here.

A fresh take on fabrics

South African-born fashion designer Sindiso Khumalo draws on her Zulu and Ndebele heritage to create fashion with a contemporary sensibility and graphic use of pattern. Watch our video interview with her here.

Made the right way

New Yorkers Abrima Erwiah and actress Rosario Dawson head up Studio One Eighty Nine, an ethical fashion line made in Ghana that aims to preserve traditional artisanship and promote ethical production on the continent. Read about their journey here.