Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards: Has Fashion Stopped Being Original? Or Are You Just Not Looking Far Enough?
Lights, camera, copy-paste couture. Darling let’s get one thing straight: Western red carpets have turned into a dystopian fashion sequel, monochrome suits with a pop of awkwardness, a sea of nude gowns that could double as bed sheets, and the occasional “daring” slit that barely dares. The only thing that changed was the location of the trench coat, a whisper turns into a widespread sigh: “Fashion isn’t original anymore”
Admittedly, I too had fallen victim to this narrative that fashion is indeed losing its iconic flair. With the recent red carpets and the recent Met Gala that has occurred, I’ve concluded that there is a slight (this is me trying to be nice) divide. I do not want to be that person but, it’s safe to say that fashion has entered its “flop era” on one side of the continent. During this year’s Met, we knew which demographic did not fail our expectations… and no, I do not want to hear “oh, they didn’t want to steal their moment.” Darling let’s be so for real, witnessing a dozen Louis Vuitton black suit ensembles for the umpteenth time is such a turnoff.
But, I did some research, and by research, I mean stumbling upon a TikTok on a Tuesday afternoon… maybe it’s not only the designers who’ve lost their touch, maybe it’s also us. Maybe the problem isn’t that originality has expired. Maybe we’re just too busy looking west to notice it thriving elsewhere. Like, say, in Lagos, Nairobi, or Accra where culture isn't just referenced, it's woven. Spoiler alert: the pulse is pounding in Africa.
At the 2025 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA), the red carpet was a living, breathing rebuttal to every lazy op-ed that claimed fashion had lost its flair. It was Afro-futurism, traditional tailoring, sculptural silhouettes, beading that told stories, and colour theory that made Pantone feel primitive. And unlike Western red carpets where “risk” equals wearing two shades of nude, the AMVCAs served creative chaos, on purpose.
Fashion Meets Cultural Literacy and Brief Fashion History
Here’s the difference: African fashion isn’t trend-based. It’s legacy driven. It’s not "inspired by" culture; it is culture. And that’s something the global fashion industrial complex has never fully grasped.
While the West has spent the last few years in an endless cycle of "quiet luxury," African designers are busy making loud, unrepentant declarations of identity. And they're doing it with everything from Ankara prints layered like armour to headpieces engineered like architecture.
It’s not about showing skin, it's about showing history. Every textile speaks. Every silhouette has a lineage. Even a simple cut tells you where someone comes from, what they believe, who they remember.
Before we rub our hands together and delve into the looks, let's pause and learn some fashion history so we don’t seem even more ignorant than we already are. Colonialism and globalization introduced Western fashion elements to Nigeria. The British brought tailored suits, gowns, and other Western-style clothing, which gradually influenced Nigerian dressing styles. Over time, Nigerians began blending Western elements with traditional attire to create unique hybrid styles. Three words, Shade Thomas-Fahm. Ever heard of her? Mhm, okay… She was Nigeria’s first modern designer and pioneer: founding a boutique in 1960s Lagos, introduced adire and aso oke into ready-to-wear—an anti-colonial act of defiance. and her enduring impact was celebrated at London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London in 2022 (better late than never.) Remember when I mentioned “adire” and “aso oke”, these together with Ankara are fabrics that carry history, identity, story and are often woven into modern hybrid garments.
The beautiful usage of Aso-Oke, a handwoven fabric frequently utilised for festivities, is a characteristic of Yoruba attire. Men usually dress in agbada (flowing robes) or buba and sokoto (trousers), while women usually wear the iro (wrapper), buba (blouse), and gele (head knot). These garments are frequently embellished with elaborate beadwork and embroidery.
Igbo Clothing: Head wraps, isiagu (a traditional male top), and vibrant George textiles are characteristics of Igbo fashion. Coral beads, a symbol of wealth, are used to accessorise the wrapper and blouse combo for women. In my biassed opinion, we definitely no dey carry last.
Hausa-Fulani Clothing: The Northern Nigerian Hausa-Fulani people dress modestly but royally. Women dress in abayas and elaborately embroidered veils, while males wear hats and babanriga, or flowing robes. Their textiles also frequently use the adire tie and dye process.
Pre-Colonial Era: Fabric as Status & Storytelling
Before Western influences, fashion in Ghana was rooted in textile as language. Clothing wasn’t just about aesthetics, it conveyed status, clan, age, and even mood.
Kente Cloth (Ashanti & Ewe origin): The crown jewel of Ghanaian fashion. Each pattern (called nwentoma) holds specific meanings—such as “Eban” (symbol of safety/security) or “Eban ne Osa” (duality of strength and gentleness). Kente was (and still is) traditionally woven by men on narrow looms, worn by royalty and reserved for significant events.
Adinkra Cloth (Akan origin): Made using carved calabash stamps and dyed in earthy tones, Adinkra features symbolic motifs like Duafe (femininity and cleanliness) or Eban (protection). It was often worn at funerals, with each symbol acting as a message to ancestors or spirits.
Smock (Batakari/Fugu): Worn primarily in Northern Ghana, made from hand woven strips of fabric sewn together, often with a loose, flowing cut and strong embroidery around the neck and chest. This was both a ceremonial and everyday garment, depending on the fabric weight and design.
The Modern Renaissance (1980s–Present): From Streetwear to Global Runways
In recent decades, Ghanaian fashion has exploded with creative energy, blending heritage with global aesthetics.
Ankara/Wax Prints became synonymous with African identity, even though their roots trace back to Dutch and Indonesian trade. Ghanaian designers began reclaiming and localizing them, creating styles like the "Kaba and Slit" a formal women’s ensemble that's a cultural staple.
The rise of fashion festivals (like Glitz Africa Fashion Week) and platforms like Accra Fashion Week has positioned Ghana as a fashion capital.
Afrofuturism and Cultural Storytelling
Nigerian and Ghanaian designers aren’t just participating in global fashion, they’re rewriting its future in a distinctly African dialect. Labels like Tokyo James, Orange Culture, and Studio One Eighty-Nine are pushing the boundaries of what African fashion can mean by weaving together ancestral heritage and hyper modern aesthetics. It’s not about mimicry or catching up to the West, it's about deconstructing Western norms entirely and building something new from the loom up.
Tokyo James infuses his sharply tailored pieces with Afrofuturist mood boards, think structured jackets etched with Yoruba symbolism, and metallics that recall both sci-fi armour and masquerade regalia.
Photo: Pinterest
Orange Culture, helmed by Adebayo Oke-Lawal, champions fluidity not just in silhouette, but in identity using soft fabrics, poetic slogans, and radical cutouts to confront masculinity and queerness in a Nigerian context.
Photo: Naatal.com
Meanwhile, Studio One Eighty-Nine, co-founded by Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah, partners with Ghanaian artisans to blend Batik, kente, and hand-woven textiles into silhouettes that wouldn’t look out of place in a Wakandan parliament session. Their work doesn’t just look forward, it feelsv forward, reflecting a deep understanding that innovation doesn’t mean erasure of the past but its reinvention.
Photo: Pinterest
This is design as storytelling, fashion as resistance, and textile as time machine. These designers are mining pre-colonial traditions, spiritual symbols, and community craft techniques turning them into luxury pieces that challenge global fashion’s Eurocentric status quo. It’s not just Afrofuturism. It’s Afro-nowism. And the rest of the world is only now playing catch-up.
The Moment We Have All Been Waiting For: The Fashion!
Amy Aghomi stunned the red carpet with her “Water and Diamond” creation donned by Mercy Eke, a sculptural masterpiece encrusted with hand-placed crystals that shimmered like frozen stardust. Styled by Maklin Scout, the look felt like cosmic couture: sharp structure against sheer fantasy, crowned with a halo fit for an intergalactic queen.
Photo: Pinterest
Then there’s Tiannah’s Place Empire—Toyin Lawani’s brainchild—renowned for conceptual couture and, this year, a golden dress crafted from one million safety pins for Queen Mercy Atang. It took sixteen artisans and oodles of inventive bravado to transform humble office supplies into regal armour, a true statement piece that left fans screaming “KOF wins again!"
Photo: Pinterest
NicoleStylish (aka stylist Nicole Stylish) turned heads at AMVCA 2025 by orchestrating one of the night’s most futuristic red-carpet reveals. She’s the creative mind behind Ghanaian icon Nana Akua Addo’s jaw-dropping techno-gown, an articulated masterpiece completes with pearlescent sequins and mechanised rods that formed a halo effect around the shoulders. Did I mention this gown holds about 1,000,000 pins? From the headset to the train. Talk about prickly. It was more than a dress, it was engineering meets elegance, showing off how Red-Carpet fashion can be cutting-edge without losing cultural soul. NicoleStylish’s genius lies in blending couture construction with tech-driven theatricality, making tradition flirt with tomorrow. If AMVCA prizes innovation, then NicoleStylish just rewrote the style standards for awards fashion across the continent.
Photo: Pinterest
During the AMVCA one can’t deny that, yes, it is a moment to celebrate outstanding African actors and actresses, while fashion designers have a moment to showcase their craft that incorporates Western fashion. Fortunately for us, we get to witness celebrities from red carpet glamour to powerful cultural statements, the fashion designers of AMVCA 2025 didn’t just style the stars they set the tone for African fashion conversations online and off (as they should)
Photo: Pinterest
Prudential Atelier adopted a daring, cutting-edge style that combined conventional components with avant-garde forms. Their Liquorose design demonstrated their dedication to honouring cultural aesthetics while pushing the bounds of fashion.
Last Last
Therefore, no, fashion isn’t dead in the West; it's just jet lagged. African design firms are staging a couture rebellion, while Hollywood recycles the same matte neutrals and strapless mermaid gowns like a broken Pinterest board. Additionally, they are using futuristic tailoring, ancient fire, and textiles that have a purpose. Lack of curiosity, not a lack of inventiveness, is the issue. We simply stopped looking past Paris, Milan, and an influencer's "Get Ready with Me"; we're not out of ideas. With no memory, no meaning, and no mojo, Western red carpets have devolved into cultural blank canvases that are prepared for safe bets and sponsored moments.
Let's face it, we are ignorant. Our flair hasn't diminished; we've simply ceased focussing on areas outside of our own backyards. African heritage is being torn apart by digital rebellion in the meantime. Furthermore, you're missing the point if you haven't covered it yet, not simply a trend.
To the fashion critics, the influencers, the editors: Do. Your. Job. Seek out African designers. Put them on the cover. Talk about their work.
And to award shows across the globe, AMVCAs already showed you the runway. Now walk it.
