Q&A: The curiosity and chemistry behind *Apartment
We chat with Leigh-Anne Drakes ahead of the launch of *Apartment's new scent
Q&A
Q&A: How Mahlobisa Shiburi weaves care into sustainable African fashion
Tandekile Mkize chats to Mahlobisa Shiburi, recent Villioti Fashion Institute graduate and the designer behind Carmen's Parys.
Q&A: How KWA draws on Batswana traditions to create modern talismans
Afrocentrism lies at the heart of KWA’s design philosophy. The jewellery brand was founded to honour the culture and traditions of the Batswana people, using materials like cowrie shells and indigenous beads and handcrafting every piece in Botswana. Its founder,...
Q&A with Mozambican textile maker Wacy Zacarias
For Mozambican designer, healer, and storyteller Wacy Zacarias, textiles are more than materials: they’re tools for healing, remembering, and regenerating. “I don’t just design with aesthetics in mind,” she says. “I design with purpose, ritual, and relationship.” Sustainability is woven...
Q&A: Meet Redress Design Award 2025 finalist Casbeth Tshegofatso Marobane
South African designer Casbeth Tshegofatso Marobane is one of 10 finalists in the 2025 Redress Design Award. The competition celebrates designers who apply circular design principles by transforming waste textiles into garments. Casbeth holds a BA in Fashion Design from...
Q&A: How Vogueish curates luxury goods, consciously
Vogueish offers a curated selection of pre-owned designer items, aiming to make luxury shopping more accessible and more sustainable. The online platform works to extend the lifecycle of every product through upkeep and, if necessary, refurbishment, ensuring pieces stay in...
Q&A: R&R Skincare’s Valerie Obaze on growing Africa’s beauty industry
Valerie Obaze launched R&R Skincare in 2010 after becoming a mother for the first time. Wanting to find only the best natural products for her baby, she experimented with making products using locally sourced botanical ingredients. “When I discovered that...
Q&A: How Up-Fuse repurposes waste from Cairo’s Garbage City
Up-Fuse is a social enterprise founded in 2015 by Yara Yassin, Rania Rafie and Lama El Khawanky. The organisation operates from Cairo’s Garbage City, an informal settlement on the Egyptian capital’s outskirts, which has no effective official garbage system. The...
Q&A with founders of new African luxury fashion rental platform R’Frique
Luxury redefined: R’Frique is making high-end African fashion more accessible and sustainable—one rental at a time. In this Q&A, founders Ceejay Ndlovu and Lebi Barfour-Osei share how their platform champions slow fashion, celebrates African design, and challenges the norms of...
Q&A: Kenyan designer Jamie Kimani uses fashion to foster pride and self-expression
Jamie Kimani is the founder and creative director of Sevaria, a Nairobi-based brand that includes upcycled and deadstock materials to produce genderfluid pieces. His collections feature made-to-order or limited edition garments, finding inspiration from African cultures and religions. “We’re keen...
Q&A: Shelley Mokoena of Connade redefines minimalism
Shelley Mokoena is the artist, designer and creative director behind Connade, the experimental luxury womenswear brand based in Johannesburg. She describes her work as meeting at the intersection of sculptural and surreal, ancient and contemporary. This is evident in Connade’s...
Q&A: Hamaji is a love letter to handcraft and heritage
Having grown up in Nairobi with a conservationist father and a botanist mother, Louise Sommerlatte has always had an appreciation for the beauty of the natural world. She founded her brand Hamaji − named after the Swahili word for ‘nomadic’ −...
Q&A: Abasiekeme Ukanireh of Éki Kéré reimagines sustainable fashion with raffia
Meet Abasiekeme Ukanireh, founder and creative director of Éki Kéré. The Nigerian brand was founded in 2020 to challenge, transform and redefine fashion stereotypes while embracing African heritage and traditions. Éki Kéré founder Abasiekeme Ukanireh Tell us about yourself and...
Q&A: Stephanie Bentum’s approach to textile making gives her star quality
Stephanie Bentum is a textile maker whose work has been travelling internationally through her collaborations with renowned South African designers, Lukhanyo Mdingi and MMUSOMAXWELL. Stephanie’s natural fibre of choice is wool, which she sources locally from farmers with ethical and...
Q&A: House of AKACHI designer Nneji Akunne says fashion can drive sustainable development
At House of Akachi, sustainability is a way of life. Founder Nneji Akunne’s passion and determination for sustainable development is as clear as it is for fashion. She sees fashion as a pathway toward sustainable development. It’s no wonder then...