The African Fashion Coalition is calling for Africa to retain the value it generates for the global fashion industry. Unveiled at London Climate Action Week, a new manifesto “The Blueprint for a Regenerative Fashion Future” prepares for Africa to become a global leader in building a regenerative future for fashion.
Africa supplies fibres, craftsmanship, labour and creativity to the global fashion industry, and imports finished textiles, clothing and footwear. This results in Africa losing about US$8 billion annually. If Earthshot Prize winner (2025) and founder of Lagos Fashion Week Omoyemi Akerele gets her way, this will change.
The manifesto states, “We are the farmers, dyers, weavers, artisans, tailors, makers, designers, creatives and catalysts who have run circular systems for generations, long before the world had a word for any of it. We have watched our own practice renamed as innovation and sold back to us at a markup. We are done watching.”
For decades, global fashion value chains were built to concentrate ownership, manufacturing, capital, infrastructure and decision-making in a small number of markets, while regions like Africa supply the raw materials, the labour, the cultural influence, and the consumption.
Omoyemi says the new document is a commitment to collective action and to shaping what comes next.
The Blueprint for a Regenerative Fashion Future outlines ten pillars designed to guide the building and restoring of regenerative, equitable, and resilient fashion systems across Africa and beyond. It positions Africa as a leader in shaping a future for fashion. It strongly centres people and communities. Coalition partner Sunny Dolat says, “We carry the responsibility to test models that are more equitable. We need to go beyond paying a minimum wage and test what equity and revenue sharing could like in communities who are sharing their talent and gifts with us.”
As the messy global industry scrambles towards a regenerative and sustainable future, Africa prepares to lead the change.
Omoyemi Akerele, left, signs The Blueprint for a Regenerative Fashion Future with Simone Smit of Earthshot Prize in London on 22 June 2026. Image: Supplied by Lagos Fashion week
African Fashion Coalition
The coalition is a community of African fashion leaders, sustainability advocates, researchers, educators, artisans, and entrepreneurs. It includes Omoyemi, founder and executive director of Lagos Fashion Week; Simone Smit, director of Africa at The Earthshot Prize; Adama Paris, founder of Dakar Fashion Week; Mahlet Teklemariam, founder of Hub of Africa Fashion Week; Sammy Oteng of The OR Foundation; Renee Neblett, founder of Kokrobitey Institute; Jackie May, founder of Twyg and Sunny Dolat, Kenyan cultural producer and fashion curator.
You can read the full manifesto here and sign it here.
The African Fashion Coalition launched the Blueprint for a Regenerative Fashion Future was launched at The Mills Fabrica during London Climate Action Week on 22 June 2026. Image: Supplied by Lagos Fashion week
10 Pillars
Pillar 1: Fashion as Cultural Heritage and Living Knowledge
Pillar 2: Circularity as Foundation, Not Trend
Pillar 3: Community-Led Creation and Inclusive Prosperity
Pillar 4: Cultural Sustainability and Intellectual Property Protection Principle
Pillar 5: Waste Justice and Global Accountability
Pillar 6: Local Production and Economic Sovereignty
Pillar 7: Climate-Responsive and Regenerative Innovation
Pillar 8: Market Access and Platform Power
Pillar 9: Infrastructure and Systems
Pillar 10: Conscious Consumption and Behavioural Change
You can read the full manifesto here and sign it here.
Correction made on 27 June: Sammy Oteng is representing The Or Foundation.
