(Paris) Imane Ayissi, Cameroonian designer, wants to put African textiles in the spotlight, but faces a major challenge as an independent African designer and pioneer at Paris Fashion Week.
Obom, a fiber obtained from tree bark, Kente fabrics from Ghana, kapok fibers from Burkina Faso, are some of the textiles – little known in Europe – that the Cameroonian has transformed into custom dresses during his haute couture show in Paris on Monday.
“Often when we talk about African fashion, we think of colorful fabrics that Africans have only started wearing relatively recently,” Ayissi told AFP from his workshop before the show.
In 2020, he was the first designer from sub-Saharan Africa present at haute couture week. Since then, he has sought to revive more traditional fabrics like raffia, a fiber from local trees and plants, which were used before the influx of imports during the colonial period, which flooded local markets in Africa.
“These (foreign) fabrics have killed the trade in real African textiles and their history. It’s heartbreaking,” explains this 55-year-old former dancer, whose father was a renowned boxer.
At the show and in front of an audience attended by footballer Mamadou Sakho, Ayissi demonstrated on her models how traditional textiles can be reworked – into colorful, sculptural pantsuits, intricate floral tops and a flamingo pink raffia dress.
Ayissi has been praised for his work at African fashion exhibitions in London and New York in 2023. He highlights the difficulty of working as an independent designer.
“I don’t have an investor behind me. When you parade alongside Chanel, Dior and the big houses, you have to be up to the task, you have to have the means. It is not easy. I have to rely on my know-how,” he explains. One of the main challenges is sourcing quality materials from Africa, where it is difficult to meet international standards.
“My challenge is to show that Africa is recovering and to present these little-known African fabrics,” he added, calling on investors to believe in the art of this continent.
To make his pieces, Ayissi works with embroiderers in Ghana and other countries, but this industry is still too small and fragmented and he is often forced to look outside Africa for cotton and other good quality fabrics.
“Africans need to wake up,” he said. “They must understand that fashion is a truly noble profession and a great economic machine. »