African Influence in the Fashion Industry
This article was written by Precious Obadara. It not only highlights the fact that Africa has influenced so many of the fashion trends we see reigning today, but it also mentioned the lack of recognition given to the homeland. It speaks heavily on Africa’s influence on worldwide fashion industries. This article makes mention of Africa’s influence on the different parts of fashion such as some of the now popular hairstyles, ornaments, and most especially the unique colourful and traditional patterns and prints. This piece also mentioned how European designers have adopted African fashion standards taking the ideas and making it their own. For example using traditional prints to make more modern garments. This is all fine until these European designers in question fail to make mention of the original source of inspiration. The article also makes an important mention of the lack of benefits Africa would receive from all of this. Readers will get a glimpse into quite a number of important moments in fashion that was heavily influenced by Africa. An example is Alexander McQueen exhibiting a £4,895 jacket. This jacket was an exact replica of a traditional Ethiopian/Eritrean cape called the kaba that is usually worn during ceremonies. McQueen’s inability to mention the source of inspiration for this garment brought him under fire. I feel this article captures a great amount of moments in the fashion industry that has been inspired by f=different parts of Africa that need to be recognized.