[Insert Fashion Here] Vol.1, Issue 9 | Fashion Month, but make it African

Greetings! Hi! How you been???

We plan because life happens, no? I definitely did not plan for how October and November have gone. I know better now: Assume that things (freelancing) will go well (better than expected, at least for now) and plan for the best (and busiest) version of that, so that 5 work trips to Cape Town, 6 full shoot days, and what feels like a million copy decks followed by a week of forced recovery don't force you to put everything else in your life on hold, including this newsletter. Also, plan to avoid burnout. Invoices sent, fatigue slowly fading, final 2019 newsletter in progress, apartment in desperate, desperate need of a spring clean.

Tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow.

[This is what I was working on, btw.]

NKWO | GT Fashion Weekend Instagram

So! The last newsletter was the final international fashion month round up, which already feels like a lifetime ago. We should talk about that, the overwhelming sense of volume and disposability every season (that is so tangible in media but must be even worse when working directly with product), but we have even more fashion to talk about.

October is unofficially African Fashion Month. Unofficially because we don't call it that, though we probably should, with plenty of activity in the industry's 2 most active markets on the continent. The schedules have changed quite a few times but general timing typically places LFWNG (formerly LFDW), AFIJFW, SAFW, and GT Bank Fashion Weekend, some of Nigeria and South Africa's biggest globally recognised platforms, all in the 10th month of the year. There are several exceptions — including AFICTFW, ARISE, Soweto FW, DFF, SAMW and the brand new Free State Fashion Week — and thank goodness, or I don't think we would survive October. As you can see we have some ground to cover and I had hoped to do so in much more detail, but considering my work schedule this past October, this will be a round of highlights from GT Bank Fashion Weekend and SAFW instead.

GT Bank Fashion Weekend

Ituen Basi | GT Fashion Weekend Instagram

Any Nigerian designer working with ankara fabric has asked or faced the question of what to do with it next. Lisa Folawiyo, while having moved on from an ankara focus, still leads the pack in this regard in my opinion, with a simple solution that made a big difference: sequins, coloured and placed to interact with the prints in a way no one had done before. Now, Ituen Basi is making an old approach new, choosing to double up on the fabric's characteristics and create texture to layer over print, with every thing from dresses to boots and wigs in the new Bálógún collection. Not every combination was for me, but each was so clearly intentional, which is often all it takes to buck convention.

 NKWO | GT Fashion Weekend Instagram

For a brand so focused on preservation — of handcraft, of traditional materials & techniques, and of waste —NKWO makes incredibly modern clothes. Experimenting with sustainability innovation in fabric led NKWO to their now signature Dakala cloth, inspired by denim and the center of the collection now featured in Vogue's UK and Italia editions. I'd love to see them innovate in traditional indigo resist-dyeing (Adire) too, if there are ways to expand on what is already a natural and safe dyeing technique to include new colours.

 Tzar Studios | GT Fashion Weekend Instagram

If you're a fan of Laurence Airline and other shirt specialists, you might want to check out Tzar Studios. They stand out with a variety of styles and materials, covering familiar ground like blue stripes and tropical prints with a roomy, somewhat tailored cut, but also exploring interesting details like alternating sleeves, double collars, and t-shirt jersey fabric engineering. They make women's shirts but as is the case with their peers, wearing their menswear would be just as easy for me.

SAFW

 The Bam Collective | safashionweek.co.za

What draws me in about Bam Collective is not just the consistently eye-catching casual whimsy, but also how hard Jacques Bam seems to work behind the scenes. There is something so traditional about it all — designing since 9 years old and making anything and everything happen for his brand ever since by assisting, interning and putting himself out there, from dressing a music video to collaborating on MRP's PROJECT line. It already sounds like a great designer's origin story. I'm thinking he's one to watch.

Research Unit | Research Unit Instagram

Research Unit makes the kind of travel bags that balance form and function with muted simplicity, so I was surprised their womenswear debut seemed so complicated, eschewing consistency in silhouette, colour or texture. This weirdly could be a good thing: when you're starting a whole new category (especially if you are going from accessories to fashion and not the other way around), it might be a good idea to put up a few different ways things could go and see what people respond to. The looks that leaned into sport landed better for me.

Cindy Mfabe | Cindy Mfabe Instagram

I hadn't heard of former David Tlale intern Cindy Mfabe before, but she is already dressing Nomzamo Mbatha. Her collection is the most interesting take on wearable contemporary that I've seen since Mmuso Maxwell's debut. There's some fun layering, wrapping and tying, and it's worlds away from her start in 2016, but it's all kept very simple. Whether that's reflective of the brand identity or SAFW's focus on commercial viability is yet to be seen. I love a crazy dress as much as the next person, but the pieces that elevate the every day are the backbone of any designer business, because volume is king. I love that SAFW focuses on that.

A last note: There's plenty to be said about the split resources, scale and priorities of these platforms, particularly the South African ones, and even more to be said about the weird contradiction of definitely needing even more while all these exist. I've talked about this for years and will eventually get around to writing that op-ed (if anyone will talk to me and agree to be quoted), but for now, just this: Fashion weeks and councils are not the only way to support designers and boost the industry. We need to think beyond these models, and urgently.

Lotte Anderson & others | Farfetch Instagram

A few headlines & highlights from the break:

• Farfetch is finally, FINALLY, on track to make a profit in 2021. This whole situation (along with general lessons from the mess there by WeWork, which is about to be turned into a movie) has taught me a lot about valuations and funding in fashion, and what a gamble business and investment are for every stakeholder (founder, investor, employee) and at any scale.

• Kylie's COTY deal. [My thanks to @Cicification for sending me this!] Makes sense for distribution, and for Coty's urgent need for brands that connect with younger customers, but the terms have me confused on how this all benefits Kylie — why 51%? Why give up the controlling stake in something with your name on it, something apparently worth a billion dollars? Maybe she needs to free up the time for her next venture; surely she didn't need to surrender this much equity to fund it?

• Our (my?) beloved Freddie Harrel has secured a groundbreaking $2m round of funding from an all-woman group of VCs for her black hair brand, RadSwán. Stoked is an understatement; I'd really like someone to take a look at whether this has ever been done by a black woman in the beauty business before, particularly one not working in cosmetics/skincare, but in hair, and in natural texture imitations at that, as opposed to the lucrative Brazilian and Peruvian extension market.

• Likes went away! For some people, anyway. I still have mine, even after updating my app. Please do tell me if you all are realising anything new about your engagement (as a consumer and/or a creator) now that they're gone for some people (if not for you, possibly for people who follow you!); I'm so interested in what this does to/for people and what it does to/for Instagram.

• Man Repeller's 2019 gift guide is out. This is important not because of the gifts but because of the styled still life images MR goes to so much trouble to make every year. They are 600-square pixel dreamscapes and I love them so much. Also we seriously need to rethink the gift guide format; even though it's technically a "best" list and not a gift guide I love what GQ did with Dan Levy this year.

Unless something truly huge takes place in the next 2 weeks, this will be the last newsletter for Vol.1/2019! When it comes back mid-Jan (Menswear season, just ahead of AW20 shows in Feb), there will be changes. I'll be trying a few things during the break to create a better newsletter and get more organised. I hope you have a blessed season (try to buy African if you're gifting fashion!), and a happy New Year, and I'll catch you on Instagram for all news and discussions until then. Thanks for sticking around. Thank you SO much.

[I'll also be sharing some family holiday fun in Nigeria! Planning to connect to the industry there and meet some media & designers for potential news stories in 2020, so I'm making a list. I'd love your recommendations — hit reply if you have any!]

Modupe Oloruntoba is a fashion writer & content producer in Johannesburg, South Africa.