There ‘s an interesting piece on iFashion.com discussing the upcoming Africa Fashion Week, the World Cup and the rise in popularity of African fabric and designs made exclusively by African designers. With mounting appreciation for the richness of African couture and with the increase of “Africa buzz” on runways around the world, iFashion asks, “Is African fashion Ready for the World?” CP-Africa beggars that African Fashion is READY, so world, prepare! The iFashion piece is a little less optimistic, treading the cautious lane. You can see the link to the article at the end of this post. What is your take? Is Africa Fashion ready for the world? We don’t see why not!

Some FYIs about the upcoming Africa Fashion Week in South Africa:
- The event will be held at the Sandton Convention Center, Johannesburg.
- The event will feature about 33 designers in 19 runway shows from 30 June – 3 July
- Some of the designers include: Mataano, Ituen Basi, Deola Sagoe, Xuly Bet, Gloria Wavamunno, Fabiani, Qumi Bespoke and many more!
- Its target audience includes World Cup guests, VIPs, the international press and celebrities

- There will be an African Fashion Awards event on July 5 recognizing movers and shakers within the African Fashion Industry who are of African descent
Some excerpts from the iFashion piece:

If the world’s football stars and their lavishly clad lovelies do go to Africa Fashion Week they’ll be expecting to see this African aesthetic coming from the continent’s own designers rather than getting a Paul Smith number that only references Africa.

As South Africa takes her turn under the global spotlight this June for the FIFA World Cup and Africa Fashion Week strategically scheduled to take place in the middle of the festivities, it would be interesting to see if this will positively contribute to Africa’s standing on the global fashion stage…

Read the full article here

[Images via ymib]

is african fashion ready for the world