When the V&A opened Africa Fashion on 2 July 2022, it promised a show about the vitality and global impact of fashion from the continent. It ran at V&A South Kensington until 16 April 2023 and has now closed, but it is still worth looking back at what it set out to do.
More than clothes
The museum presented African fashions as “a self-defining art form”, told through garments, textiles, personal testimonies, photographs, sketches, film and catwalk footage, from the mid-twentieth century to the present. When the V&A announced the details in February 2022, it was reported that the show would bring together over 250 objects and the work of 45 designers from over 20 countries. The V&A’s own pages today speak of “a selection of fashion creatives from over 20 countries”.
Ten chapters
The V&A’s account of the exhibition names ten sections: African Cultural Renaissance, The Politics and Poetics of Cloth, Vanguard, Capturing Change, Minimalism, Mixology, Artisanal, Afrotopia, Sartorialists and Adornment.
Names to know
The Vanguard section followed the first generation of African designers to gain attention across the continent and beyond: Shade Thomas-Fahm, Chris Seydou, Kofi Ansah, Alphadi and Naïma Bennis. Among contemporary creatives the V&A names Imane Ayissi, IAMISIGO, Moshions, Thebe Magugu and Sindiso Khumalo. Studio photography by Sanlé Sory, Michel Papami Kameni and Rachidi Bissiriou and the colour portraits of James Barnor sat beside the clothes.
Cloth with a story
Textiles were central. The Politics and Poetics of Cloth looked at how making and wearing indigenous cloths at the moment of independence became a political act; wax prints, commemorative cloth, adire (the indigo-dyed cloth of Nigeria), kente and bògòlanfini were all featured.
In their own words
“Africa Fashion means the past, the future and the present at the same time. The joy of life and the joy of colour is completely different and very particular to the continent.”
Artsi, fashion designer, Maison ArtC
How it was received
The V&A’s exhibition page quotes two five-star reviews: “Elegant and exuberant” (The Telegraph) and “A glorious celebration” (Time Out).
If you missed it
The V&A keeps its articles about the exhibition online:
Cover image: kente cloth from the Volta region, Ghana – a general illustration, not a work from the exhibition. Photo: Warmglow / Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
This article was first published on 30 June 2022, before the exhibition opened, and was updated in October 2026.
