African Fashion International (AFI) has announced the list of designers set to take part in the AFI Cape Town Fashion Week on 23 and 24 March. The rebranded event, themed #IamAfrica this year, will take place at Salt River Film Studios, an old compound of railway blacksmiths' workshops turned world-class studio and events facility.
Jan Malan, show producer and newly appointed production director for AFI Cape Town Fashion Week, is renowned for staging fashion shows in unique spaces: “There’s something about this old gritty industrial space that excites me. The unique façade and indoor architectural style of Salt River Film Studios boasts unusually high roof beams and an extensive gantry system which is great for lighting and our complex rigging requirements. We’ve got some incredible plans and I can’t wait to see it all come together.”
The curated line-up of designers celebrates every corner of the continent. Morocco’s Salima Abdel-Wahab brings her eclectic Northern African textures to be shown alongside the afro-futuristic South African patterning of Maxhosa by Laduma. East Africa is represented by Adele Dejak whose jewellery range is inspired by her Kenyan homeland while world-renowned Adama Paris shows off all that West Africa has to offer with a collection that celebrates urban Senegal.