At last, investors are backing emerging African designers. They\u2019re willing to provide brands with capital, connect them with industry leaders, and help designers build businesses. Even if the investments are small, experts who know the long-term frustrations of the under-resourced African fashion industry sense that momentum is turning in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Venture capital firm Birimian and European private equity firm Trail announced on 11 April plans to invest at least $5 million a year in selected African and diasporic brands. The African fashion industry is poised for significant growth, predicts Xavier Marin, chairman of Trail. \u201cWe know African heritage is going to be a big thing. If you look at music or fashion, there’s a lot of interest there.\u201d Trail\u2019s partnership with Birmian is intended to provide support beyond investment, with guidance on production and selling in international markets.<\/p>\n
Another sign of change in the air: on 2 March, the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), which helps African brands develop an international presence, backed nine African designers to present at Paris Fashion Week.<\/p>\n
The EFI, a public-private partnership founded by Simone Cipriani that falls under the United Nations umbrella, launched an accelerator programme in 2019. Alumni include 2021 LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize winner Lukhanyo Mdingi, from South Africa. This year its list of designers includes Laurenceairline, whose founder is based between C\u00f4te d’Ivoire and Paris; Kente Gentlemen, another C\u00f4te d’Ivoire-based brand; Kenyan womenswear brands Hamaji and Katush; Kenyan accessories brands Suave and Jiamini; Abidjan-based jewellery brand Ohiri; and Burundi\u2019s Margaux Wong. Lukhanyo Mdingi and Kente Gentlemen declined to share sales figures. Laurenceairline predicts 20 per cent sales growth this year.<\/p>\n
Lukhanyo Mdingi, who joined the accelerator programme in 2020, says his partnership with the EFI is still ongoing, despite completing the accelerator programme. \u201cIt would be [silly] of me to let go of that because of the positive contribution EFI has brought into our business,\u201d he says. \u201cHaving our label be a part of EFI has been just as beneficial for them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EFI input has been critical to the development of many new African fashion businesses. After a fire burnt down her workshop in C\u00f4te d’Ivoire back in 2015, Laurence Chauvin-Buthaud was forced to rebuild Laurenceairline, her menswear brand. The disaster led her to reflect on the missing elements of her business, Chauvin-Buthaud recalls. \u201cI\u2019m a designer; I\u2019m not a business person,\u201d she says. \u201cI was focusing on creating a good collection and ensuring I had a good production\u2026 The rest was too much for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ethical Fashion Initiative\u2019s team can offer support with every stage of a business including finance and sales. EFI worked with Chauvin-Buthaud on sales and communication, helping her to relaunch her website. \u201cWe want to have a direct to consumer strategy and an online strategy,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re working with them to rebuild the site in a way that we need, and in a way that makes it easier for customers to discover the collection and buy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mdingi, the accelerator programme provided him with broad business learnings. \u201cWe were introduced to the whole business side of things, predominantly within sales and distribution,\u201d he says. \u201cWe still have a relationship with the sales agent with whom we were initially working during the accelerator programme.\u201d Mdingi says he\u2019s been able to build a strong network of contacts who share their expertise with him and his team.<\/p>\n
The Paris Fashion Week presentation in March was an important step, notes Ivorian designer Aristide Loua, founder of Kente Gentlemen. Two months ahead of the event, he worked with the EFI to plan and strategise every element of the set, including which looks to present, the preparation of moodboards and a meeting with the Lucien Pages PR firm, to discuss logistics, he says.<\/p>\n
The EFI accelerator programme is an important part of the preparation process before speaking to investors. \u201cThey saw the potential in our brand; they saw the products, but now it\u2019s about finessing everything so that in a year from now, when we talk to investors, we have a business plan ready,\u201d says Loua, recalling how the EFI team came to Abidjan, C\u00f4te d’Ivoire in West Africa, to help him create a collection plan as well as discuss brand and marketing strategy.<\/p>\n
The creation of a \u201cdeeper infrastructure\u201d is the goal of Birimian founder Laureen Kouassi-Olsson. \u201cWe are working at the foundations of these brands. Transforming them from designers and informal brands or informal companies into creative entrepreneurs and sustainable enterprises.\u201d That means constant follow-through initiatives, says Kouassi-Olsson: brands are supported by mentors who arrange weekly meetings and review business progress.<\/p>\n
Why invest in African brands?
\nHow many years will it take for African brands to scale? The optimists believe it could happen fast. \u201cI believe that in the next five or 10 years African heritage brands will be big,\u201d says Trail’s Marin.<\/p>\n
Marin is ready to think long term. \u201cWe are building up an investment company,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not a fund where you buy and then sell piece by piece. We [Birimian and Trail] are going to create a Maison, where we\u2019ll build and grow companies and brands.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Ethical Fashion Initiative, investing in young African designers and brands is also about creating enduring production opportunities. Since 2009, the EFI has been seeking to integrate African artisans into the global fashion supply chain. Progress has been made to bring together local communities and international luxury businesses, including the likes of British designer Vivienne Westwood and Kering-owned Gucci. Artisans are producing bags, accessories and fabrics for several fashion brands and attracting orders from Japan, Europe, the US and Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize winner Lukhanyo Mdingi, Laurence Chauvin Buthaud and Aristide Loua discuss building their brands for international success, with support from the Ethical Fashion Initiative. Investors are taking note.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":6926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[7,37,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-6929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fashion","8":"category-lifestyle","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-fashion","11":"tag-lifestyle"},"yoast_head":"\n