Africa is a complex continent. Granted there are shared similarities amongst its citizens, each country has its own blend of cultural and lingual framework. On FashionGHANA, we have mainly looked into style from Ghana and Nigeria, and at times Ethiopia and South Africa, but don’t underestimate the trends and fashion being executed in other regions.
Take for example, Ethiopia. It has over 80 ethnic groups with their own cultures, customs, dialects, lifestyles, and traditions. Enough to give birth to a whole new generation of style influencers. The country may have a variety of textile products to choose from, but there are few notable pieces that are ubiquitous. One such piece being our very loved Habesha Kemis, mainly because it feels like African print on white fabrics. It’s considered the traditional dress of Ethiopia, as well as, a cultural dress in Eritrea.
The Habesha Kemis is a white hand-woven cotton clothing that is made from shemma by traditional weavers known as Shemane. This is a cloth made by sewing together long strips of woven fabric. And although the colour segments are seem as print, they are actually hand-made patterns known as Tibeb, made using woven shiny threads and are added to the Kemis on the waistband and edges.
However, the way the Kemis is presented can differ by community and ethnicity. The Shewa version can choose to place the embroidery on the bottom, cuffs or waist of the dress. Sometimes, it will feature on all three places. On the other hand, the Gondar version positions the embroidery on the bottom hem, only at the back of the dress.
Traditionally, the Kemis is ankle-length and uses a white shemma. Nevertheless, there is a more and more increase of modernised versions which have adopted different structures and styles. For instance, designers have been working with dyed versions of the shemma and utilizing modern dress silhouettes.
For now, check out some lovely pieces below culled from the creators instagram pages. To get your hands on some of these beautiful Habesha Kemis follow their pages.
UPCOMING TOP EVENTS!
Hub of Africa Addis Fashion Week will highlight the growing talent of African designers and brands to the international market. It is committed to being a part of the growth of the industry in Ethiopia and the region by making Addis the HUB, encouraging designers, making links between buyers, manufacturers, and international media.
It will bring local and regional key industry individuals with seasoned international industry figures to discuss and share ideas and experiences on how to grow and develop the fashion and garment industry to compete in the global market.
Lagos Fashion Week (LagosFW) is a fashion platform that drives the Nigerian and ultimately, the African fashion industry; by bringing together buyers, consumers and the media to view the current collections of designers at a four (4) day event in the fashion capital of Lagos, Nigeria.
FashionGHANA Honors & Awards are also known as #FGHA began in 2018 as a fixated awarding process in between Accra Fashion Week runway shows. The award was heavily appreciated in 2019 is had a whole day dedicated to the awards night during Accra Fashion Week. After skipping a year during the pandemic in 2020, the event returned in 2021 holding the biggest fashion awards during the year.
This edition will explore the frontiers where the growth of the sustainability movement in Africa is stunted, and entice more eco-friendly brands to shift their focus to the growing African population. Will feature spectacular collections and creative designs from different designers from Ghana and beyond who will light up the runway.
Will be the biggest combined dish of thrilling music and exciting fashion with this new opportunity that will be given to young aspiring designers.
Will feature an ALL STAR cast of crowd-pulling models, prominent politicians from the major parties (to exhibit national cohesion), and professional models.
Ghana’s leading fashion event Accra Fashion Week is scheduled for 7-11 December 2022 following their 5th-year celebration last year in 2021. Accra Fashion Week is a platform for African designers that can be compared to fashion weeks across the major capitals. It aims to fill the void which sees tremendous creativity and culture across the continent with the absence of an operating fashion infrastructure.
The epic event took place at Ghana Dubai in Accra, and saw models march down the steps from the Kwame Nkrumah Monument whilst being followed by a spotlight, before circulating the central fountains. Memories of the exciting night still give chills as guests revisit the experience on youtube.
However, rest assured that 2022 is going to be even more exciting with greater performances and an upgraded designer collection. FashionGHANA.com is sure to bring you the exclusives we did on www.FashionGHANA.com/TV. All last year’s shows are available to watch on youtube. Designer’s registration is ongoing on the AccraFashionWeek.org website.
DIRECTION COLLECTION: OUT NOW!
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