Several African designers use innovation and creativity to shape the way in which not only wearable art from Africa is viewed but the continent itself. They are challenging perceptions and stereotypes with their work, which provides new ways of looking at Africa. Some artists are working with waste, recycled, and found materials to create art pieces that represent a metaphor for the power of creative transformation.

Cyrus Kabiru

Nationality: Kenya
Studio: N/A
Accessory: Eyewear

Cyrus Kabiru was born in 1984 in Nairobi, Kenya. When he was a child, he always admired his father’s glasses. His father told him that if he wanted a pair, he should make them himself. So, he started to build goggles based on scrap found around the family home. As an adult, Kabiru became a self-taught sculptor and crafted more sophisticated eyewear called C-Stunners. His artworks are fashioned from castaway objects and obsolete technology, carefully selected and creatively assembled. In a series of photographic self-portraits, Kabiru reflects on how people can view the world through their own eyes. His glasses provide a new filter, transforming the wearer not only in appearance but also in way of thinking. The goggles also represent masks, which combine traditional values with futuristic style.

Anita Quansah

Nationality: Nigeria/Ghana/United Kingdom
Studio: Anita Quansah
Accessory: Jewellery

Anita Quansah grew up within a family who have been in the creative industry for many generations, designing traditional clothes for Igbo royalty in Nigeria. Since 2006, she has been working to develop and promote recycled textile, by creating bold and unique statement jewellery. Her embroidered necklaces, earrings, and bracelets are inspired by her passion for creativity, travel, love of nature, art, fashion, and music of past and present generation. Each bespoke piece from her collection is a curation of varying reclaimed parts of vintage jewellery, semi-precious stones, mixed materials, and rare African beads. Not only is her pieces true statements but the designer weaves stories in each piece that she masterly creates. Each piece conveys a message which is relevant in the now, the past and the future to come.

Adèle Dejak

Nationality: Nigeria
Studio: Adele Dejak
Accessory: Jewellery, Handbag

Adèle Dejak was born in Kano, Nigeria, and studied photography at the University of Arts London. She worked as typographic designer in England and Italy before moving to Nairobi, Kenya in 2005. Inspired by the natural beauty of horn, Dejak began experimenting with it, using different techniques to create chic, original pieces. She created her jewelry brand, which draws inspiration from a variety of African and European cultural influences. Each piece is expertly handcrafted out of recycled materials, with her signature aesthetic extending to daring neckpieces and elegant earrings with sculptural silhouettes. She creates fashion accessories with gold, horns, bronze, and traditional African fabric. Her edgy and powerful creations definitely reflect the strong contemporary African woman.

Cécile Ndiaye

Nationality: Senegal/France
Studio: Studio Wudé
Accessory: Handbag

Born in France, Cécile Ndiaye studied in Plastic arts and worked as a teacher before moving to Senegal to work in the design industry. She developed an artistic approach in which design, craftsmanship and art coexist permanently in a committed and responsible system. She continuously feeds on local cultures, artisan traditions and resources available in her environment to propose new narratives. Her studio is like a research laboratory, defined as a place of memory and transmission. She creates various pieces, giving birth to new aesthetics in the form of everyday objects such as bags. Her pieces are made with leather and wax, combining two materials widely used in Africa.