The Future of African Fashion, Post-Covid-19

The Future of African Fashion, Post-Covid-19 By Ugonna--Ora Owoh

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS turned the African fashion industry (www.voguebusiness.com/ fashion/african-luxury-fashion-thebe-magugu-lvmh) on its head. Designer production is halted, fashion shows and events are postponed or moved online, and brands have had to scramble to set up proper online businesses to make up for sales lost to store closures. As the global fashion industry grapples with the eff ects of the pandemic, Africa’s network of designers is particularly vulnerable to disruption.

In June, more than 100 African fashion creatives and digital innovators from across the continent joined a webinar series hosted by Fashionomics Africa (https://fashionomicsafrica.org), an initiative launched by African Development Bank Group (https://twitter.com/AfDB_Group) to create jobs and drive growth for the local fashion industry, worth $31 billion. The group discussed the plausibility of several digital innovations that would help designers transition their businesses for a postpandemic reality.

These designers rely on store sales, in-house production and physical shows to gain audience followings and run their businesses. Africa’s e-commerce industry is stunted by last-mile delivery challenges, and a years-long eff ort to bring raw material production domestically means that all manufacturing is closed. The resulting action plan from June’s meetings: fashion designers and creatives in Africa must take advantage of online tools to strengthen their businesses.

Rethinking retailer-brand relationships

With retailers closed, African designers have turned to establishing their own direct businesses.

“Lockdown restrictions are unique in every country. In South Africa, we have seen diff erent stages of lockdown that have negatively aff ected every business,” says Rich Mnisi, (www.richmnisi. com) creative director of his eponymous fashion

© Aart Verrips/Rich Mnisi

label. “Retailers need to stop expecting business to return to [normal]. There’s no going back to how it was any time soon.”

In Africa, most bricks-and-mortar retailers have held back from building out their e-commerce operations, meaning physical stores and online retailers including Konga (www.konga.com) and Jumia (www.jumia.com.ng) are pitted against each other. Pre-pandemic, fashion designers without direct online businesses or vast store networks of their own largely relied on retailers to reach customers across the continent. Retailers, meanwhile, rely on brands to bring designer cachet to their stores.

During a pandemic that has forced stores to close, that dynamic has changed, says Mnisi. Only some designer brands had websites prior to the pandemic, and those were targeted at a global customer. Customers in Africa have been wary of shopping solely online for fashion due to restrictions in delivery. Now, a shift to online sales has suited customer behaviour amid stay-at-home orders. African customers are shopping online

says. “It has shown how resilient we are in the face of progress.” As e-commerce ramps up, digitisation of the fashion show (www. voguebusiness.com/ fashion/west-africandesigners-explorevirtual-worlds) has brought thousands of designers online much faster as designers push their latest collections across social media. Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba (www. fastcompany. com/90513959/ hanifas-virtual-3dfashion-show-ishaunting-beautifuland-brilliantly-© Ricardo Simal/Rich Mnisi executed, www. instagram.com/ hanifaoffi cial) led the initiative by creating 3D models and sending them down a virtual runway. © Duque Photography/Christie Brown Some designers are propelled by the global inclusivity movement prompted by protests, and more, and visiting malls less. Retailers are now the attention it’s begun to aff ord local artisanship. rethinking strategy, organisation and staffi ng to “We’ve been focusing on fi xing our foundational better suit evolving customer preferences. issues and what we can do to build from within. It’s

The push to digitise Despite obstacles, some designers believe the digitisation of the African fashion industry is inevitable. “We can’t stress the relevance of having a strong digital presence enough,” says Aisha Ayensu, creative director of Ghanaian brand Christie Brown (https://christiebrownonline.com). She says that the Fashionomics Africa webinar series has prompted a push for a more robust digital time we grow all the aspects of our supply chain,” says Adebayo Oke-Lawal, creative director of Orange Culture Nigeria (https://orangeculture.com. ng). Ayensu hopes the protests lead to permanent change, with brands rethinking representation in their own companies. “We’ll see its eff ects fi ve, 10 years from now with a more diverse, global fashion industry that embraces African brands.” presence as well as education for designers setting www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/the-futureup online businesses. “These [wouldn’t have] of-african-fashion-post-covid-19#intcid=_ happened if the pandemic hadn’t intruded,” she voguebusiness-uk_6bd2c25a-c20b-4a54-a2efa87eda5488d4_text2vec1