SAVE THE DATE: (March 7th-9th, 2013) Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Autunm/Winter Joburg.
African Fashion International (AFI) is the leading Fashion authority on the African continent and is committed to the promotion and development of the best South African design talent.
African Fashion International achieves this through creating leading, world-class platforms aimed at driving the growth of the industry and the support of talented designers.
We also strive to lead the way in thought leadership that champions understanding of the opportunities, challenges and growth potential of African fashion.
This is achieved through AFI’s four pillars:
1. Events/Properties
MBFW Joburg is AFI’s Autumn/Winter fashion platform, showcasing the best of local design talent. It takes place annually in February/March.
MBFW Cape Town is AFI’s Spring/Summer fashion platform, which takes place annually in July/August.
MBFW Africa is a trans-seasonal showcase, which takes place annually in October and provides a platform for premier African and heritage designers to present their fashion businesses to global markets.
Africa Fashion Awards celebrates and recognises the successes of the African fashion industry at a gala event each year.
2. Development
AFI Fastrack™ is the national graduate fashion platform offered by AFI. The initiative is a developmental platform that offers emerging designers a chance to be exposed to the market though the fashion week vehicle. It provides growth opportunities to participating designers through seminars, workshops and career education.
AFI The Next Generation is the second-phase development platform. It offers graduates from the AFI Fastrack™ program an opportunity to further their fashion businesses through continued growth opportunities such as mentoring.
3. Business
AFI Showroom is a retail opportunity offered to designers. The Showroom brings the designer and their clothing together with a potential consumer market – the tagline is “Shop the Shows” because the platform allows shoppers to buy garments that they have seen on the runway.
Africa Fashion Trade Expo is also a retail opportunity offered to designers from the continent to interact with a local South African and the global market. Designers also use this opportunity to present their brands to buyers and the media.
Seminars: AFI hosts fashion and business related seminars to ensure the continued growth and development of the local industry.
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
