FASHION CITIES AFRICA, HANNAH AZIEB POOL (ED.

) (2016)

Bristol and Chicago: Intellect, 143 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-78320-611-7, p/bk, $28.50

Sub-Saharan Africa's footwear and apparel industry is a $31 billion

market according to Forbes (Hale). Yet major fashion media
companies such as Vogue do not have African editions, a gap often
based on misconceptions about the viability of luxury markets in
Africa and falsehoods about the lack of infrastructure. Fashion
Cities Africa makes a very strong case for the strength of African
apparel businesses, including luxury markets. The book was
inspired by the exhibit of the same name held at the Brighton
Museum and Art Gallery in the United Kingdom from April 2016 to
January 2017. It describes itself as a 'glorious snapshot' of the
fashion scene in four large African cities, chosen because they
represent the four compass corners of the continent (14). It does
not seek to be an exhibition catalogue, research study or a guide
to shopping in Africa. Through descriptions of the fashion scenes
in Nairobi, Casablanca, Lagos and Johannesburg the reader comes
to understand the breadth and diversity of African fashion.

The forward to the book introduces African fashion with a short

essay by the Nairobi-based writer Binyavanga Wainaina. Mr
Wainaina identifies himself as a 'flaneur' but his deep enthusiasm
for African fashion belies his self-description. He uses all his per
diem to purchase suitcases full of textiles. He gives
recommendations about where to find the best tailors (Mali) and
he promotes his current favourite young designer from Lagos,
Chioma Chukwulozie. By giving the reader a whirl wind tour of his
favourite African fashion, Mr. Wainaina's essay perfectly illustrates
the variety, dynamism and cosmopolitanism of fashion in Africa as
presented in Fashion Cities Africa.

There is no 'African' fashion according to journalist Hannah Azieb

Pool, who is the book's editor and a contributor. She argues in the
introduction that fashion exists within cities and so the book is
purposefully divided into chapters on African cities. The four
highlighted cities were chosen for their strong fashion
qualifications and their geographic, economic and culture diversity.
The goal was to use each city as a way to focus on the
expansiveness of African fashion. Each subsequent chapter is
devoted to one city, introducing the unique nature of that city's
fashion industry and the current state of the fashion press, fashion
weeks, government support, the local textile industry, access to
manufacturing and the important shopping districts. Included
throughout are the voices of designers, stylists, retailers, bloggers,
artists, musicians and students. The second part of each city
chapter then profiles five people associated with the fashion scene
who are frequently quoted in the previous section. From the
perspective of an outsider, the inclusion of so many people from
all parts of the fashion world presents a solid overview of each city.

The Nairobi chapter introduces the style bloggers Velma Rossa and
Papa Petit (Oliver). Velma and Oliver provide Pool with an
experience shopping for clothes at the Gikomba market, east
Africa's largest market for second-hand clothing. Clothing in the
market is moved from bale houses to stalls and stalls are grouped
by clothing and accessory category. Runners can find shoppers a
specific item and tailors are available to make quick alterations.
Second-hand markets are an enormous part of the Nairobi fashion
scene. There are other parts of Nairobi where fabric can be
purchased and given to a tailor. Secondhand markets and tailors,
and the pull of international labels, make Nairobi a tough place for
young designers. While the markets democratize fashion by
making quality clothing more accessible, they also limit locally
designed and made fashion, which is more expensive. Thus,
fashionable Kenyans have an ambivalent relationship with second-
hand markets. In Nairobi designers also work against the 'colonial
fashion hangover' (27), the conservative suit and tie aesthetic
brought with British colonization, and a former ban on local
Kenyan cloth. Fortunately, young people have become interested
in older textile forms once associated with their parents'
generation. Local cloth such as kanga and kitenge and Masai shuka
are worked into handbags and linings. Clothing and jewellery
designers study local artisan methods and use local materials. The
fabrics are put into western silhouettes from several recognizable
movements ranging from bohemian and minimalism to grunge.
Pool makes it clear that Nairobi designers repeatedly expressed
their desire to change the image of African fashion as something
other than a 'curio' (32, 43). They are producing luxury African
fashion.

The chapter on Casablanca is written by the journalist and author,

Helen Jennings. Casablanca is described as a city that encapsulates

the many cultural influences that came to North Africa. French,

Arab and native Moroccan culture have all contributed to
Casablanca's cosmopolitanism. Designers who emerged there in
the 1960s sought to build clothing for modern women beyond the
caftan. But Moroccan designers in the 1980s and the 1990s went
back to the caftan. 'Caftan chic' remains the formal dress worn to
weddings and religious celebrations; it is the largest and most
profitable part of Moroccan fashion (54). One contemporary
designer, Amine Bendriouich, wants something different; 'I was
taking a stand against the hegemony of the caftan, which had
become self-exoticised' (69). Instead Amine has developed a 'souk-
meets-streetwear' aesthetic (68).

Artistic freedom in Casablanca has increased under the current

king and since 2010 the city has had a fashion college in addition
to the annual, ten-day Boulevard Festival. Boulevard brings tens of
thousands of people into the country to experience Moroccan
music and art. Despite progress and one of the most productive
manufacturing capacities in Africa, production for local designers is
challenging. Global brands have manufactured in Casablanca but
Asian manufacturing is shifting where these brands manufacture,
reducing the availability of local manufacturing. The international
recession in 2008 let to the closing of the Festimode Casablanca
Fashion Week. Many Moroccan fashion magazines, which had
previously thrived due to the presence of international brands,
also folded. But the fashion world in Casablanca is optimistic about
the future while simultaneously emphasizing the crucial need for
institutional support to overcome hurdles. Some support has
come from the Moroccan textile and manufacturing industry,
which pays student tuition for the fashion college, Casa Moda
Academy.

Jennings also wrote the chapter about Lagos, Africa's most

populous city. The chapter includes a short history through the
civil war, the military juntas, the oil boom and the current state of
economic growth. Nigeria's GDP surpassed that of South Africa in
2014. Expressing national identity through dress has been a part
of Lagos' culture since Nigerian independence from the United
Kingdom in 1960. This identity included the use of indigo and
Dutch wax cloth in African ready-to-wear. Nigerians have been
label-conscious in the past but also value uniqueness, expressing
themselves and standing out; thus contemporary designers
incorporate indigo and Dutch wax cloth into Nigerian fashion. The
fashion industry in Lagos is strong and thus there has been a
viable fashion magazine, Arise, since 2008 and a Lagos Fashion &
Design Week since 2011. There is also a Fashion Designers'
Association of Nigeria. With all of the positives, Jennings does not
overlook the challenges for Nigerian designers: finding high-quality
fabrics locally, working around a temperamental infrastructure,
finding trained tailors and seamstresses, limited places to
manufacture, shipping costs and a complicated bureaucracy. Some
of these challenges exist in the other featured cities. She makes
the point that successful designers often have extensive financial
support before they begin, but this could be said of designers
anywhere.

The last city chapter is devoted to Johannesburg. Pool asserts that

the city synthesizes politics and fashion like no other city in Africa
because it became the centre of black consciousness in Africa as
apartheid was dismantled in the 1990s. Nothing is considered
without politics; 'who owns this? Who's making the money? Whose
culture, whose aesthetic is being propelled' (110)? The tension of a
place that is always about to boil over is what gives the city its
creativity according to blogger Bongel. Pool argues that who tells
the story about continental and diasporic African fashion is
changing and Johannesburg is the most important place for
witnessing that change. 'Joburg' is 'More established than Nairobi,
not quite as self-conscious as Lagos' and 'the New York of Africa'
(110). The comparison to New York is reflected by the ambition
and diversity of the people who work there, and the distinct
energies and styles of neighbourhoods. There are two rival fashion
weeks. Designers are working with traditional regional textiles and
styles, but can also be influenced by 'outside' styles. Styling, not
the clothing alone, is what sets Joburg fashion apart. People shop
at a variety of price points, old with new, African with non-African.
For example,
At first glance, it might look like a Joburg hip hop or skater
kid is heavily referencing American culture, but take a closer
look and you'll see he's wearing a bucket hat rather than a
baseball cap in a nod to Soweto street-style, or the goth girl
pouting in the black lipstick has broken up the head-to-toe black
with a Zulu-inspired headpiece. (113)

Sthandiwe Kgoroge, an actor, creative and activist, expresses this

style succinctly: 'I'm an African Global Citizen' (120).

Fashion Cities Africa contains a very effective snapshot of each

featured city, where a snapshot means an abbreviated
introduction. As such, it serves as a concise view of fashion in a
specific location at a specific point in time. Using the context of an
African city to consider African fashion by interviewing and
photographing the significant participants serves multiple
functions. First, the interviews reveal consistent themes from city
to city: the joys and frustrations of the work, fashion as identity
and a place to take risks and understand one's place it the world,
conversations between generations about older, local textiles or
silhouettes and contemporary fashion. Second, when considered
together, the variety of fashion scenes shows the diversity of what
constitutes fashion in Africa. The book also considers that which
makes a person part of the African fashion arena. The authors
have chosen people descended from African and East Indian
families. Europeans working in Africa are included in the narrative.
The participants are a range of ages and ethnicities, and have
varied educational experiences. They represent all parts of the
industry including designers, retailors, stylists, tailors, PR
consultants, bloggers, students and artists. High-quality
photographs of the people interviewed are found throughout the
book. They are photographed presumably wearing their own
designs if they are on the making side or otherwise illustrating
their styling abilities. The photos are situated within a variety of
city-specific locations in easy, relaxed poses. The effect of posing
them outside a studio brings forward the character of each
person; their clothing aesthetic shines through. While the specific
reasoning behind their choice of people to interview, quote or
photograph is unclear, the effect is not. Including diverse voices
from the industry brings to life each city's fashion scene and shows
a twenty-first-century approach to fashion. In addition, the
multiplicity of voices provides the reader with a deep appreciation
of these four African cities.

The photos and interviews also work together to challenge

stereotypes about African Fashion. While the influence of local
dress and craft traditions is evident in every city, the tension
between contemporary silhouettes and older forms such as the
Moroccan caftan or Kenyan kange is presented without judgement
by the authors. Individual designers and artists speak for their
approach, whether it be a preference for older forms, 'modern'
womenswear, or some combination between the two poles. In this
way the authors successfully illustrate 'the enduring creativity and
dynamism of contemporary fashion across the African continent'
(141) and change the 'visual narrative of the "African" aesthetic'
(14).

Fashion Cities Africa is not a 'where to shop in Africa' guidebook. It

provides a rich narrative and feeling for each city's fashion world.
Differences between the fashion press and fashion weeks
available in each city are presented in a balanced way. The world
recession in 2008 closed the fashion magazines in Casablanca but
Lagos' Arise has been in publication since 2008. Social media
thrives in most places. Consistently presented, local, fashion shows
are rare but there continues to be optimism in cities where there is
no fashion week. The challenges and opportunities of designing,
manufacturing and selling are adequately presented. However, the
passion of individual narrators does peak interest in each city and
a desire to find the flea markets and unique stores. A fashion
enthusiast fortunate enough to travel to African would do well to
read Fashion Cities Africa.

As Pool states early in the book, 'For too long books on African
fashion have been written by anthropologists and ethnographers,
rather than those who live, breathe and above all, wear it' (15). This
book is a model for understanding contemporary African fashion.
It shows the necessity of local fashion history using voices from
each city. Africans and the African diaspora are the ones telling the
fashion story; it is no longer a story about Africa being told only by
Europe and the North America (123). I hope that it encourages
more Africans to chart contemporary fashion scenes and to write
the history of fashion in all African cities and countries.

REFERENCE

Hale, Cori (2018), 'Vogue's fashion magazine empire still leaving

out Africa', Forbes.com, 2 August,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/korihale/2018/08/02/vogues-
fashion-magazine-empire-still-leaving-out-africa/#3cc4e0715adb.
Accessed 8 August 2018.

Reviewed by Susan Hannel, University of Rhode Island

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Intellect Ltd.

http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=221/