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Africa Fashion Week London will run from 17 to 23 August 2026, marking its 16th year with a first-ever showcase at 8 Northumberland Avenue and the launch of a new retail platform called Shop The Runway. The week is themed Design Beyond Borders and includes a new partnership with the British Council’s Creative DNA programme.
Founded in 2011 by Olori Ronke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, AFWL has shown more than 3,000 designers and creatives from Africa and its diaspora, building a reputation as one of Europe’s largest platforms for African fashion. This year’s programme includes a new retail concept built into the schedule and a formal partnership with the British Council, both of which are new additions to the AFWL format.
Shop The Runway launches on Sunday, 23 August, running alongside the Exhibition Halls and Marketplace. Buyers, stylists and press will be able to see collections on Saturday’s catwalk and buy directly from participating designers the following day.
Designers showing on the AFWL catwalk have not historically had a direct route from runway to sale within the event itself. Orders and stockist relationships are usually negotiated separately, over the months following a show. Shop The Runway compresses that timeline into a single day, letting a buyer who sees a piece on Saturday purchase it in person on Sunday.
For designers without the distribution networks of larger houses, that structure gives them a chance to convert interest into a sale before the week ends. It also gives AFWL a retail component that sits inside its own programming rather than depending on external stockists to pick up pieces after the fact.
The second addition is AFWL’s new partnership with the British Council’s Creative DNA programme. Over three days in Stratford, designers, educators and industry professionals take part in sessions covering fashion business, sustainability, AI and international collaboration, alongside one-on-one designer surgeries.
The Creative DNA cohort brings designers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria into the programme, and several will also appear on AFWL’s Next Gen Runway on Saturday, alongside names from Lesotho and other emerging African markets. Their inclusion on the runway gives the partnership a presence at Northumberland Avenue as well as at the seminar sessions in Stratford.
The British Council’s Creative DNA programme supports fashion and creative entrepreneurs across the countries represented in this year’s cohort, with a focus on business skills and market access alongside design development. This year, that focus is built directly into AFWL’s own programming, with cohort members taking part in both the Stratford seminars and the Saturday runway.
AFWL takes over 8 Northumberland Avenue on Saturday 22 August for its main catwalk programme, the first time the event has staged its full schedule at this venue. The New Talent Catwalk opens the day, spotlighting emerging designers and graduate talent still building their names in the industry. The Next Gen Runway follows, featuring the Creative DNA cohort alongside designers from Lesotho and other contemporary African brands, with a focus on craftsmanship and sustainability.
The day closes with the VIP Catwalk Showcase, where established designers share the runway with performances from Cuppy and fellow Nigerian artist Seyi Shay. AFWL has featured live music alongside its catwalk programming since its early editions, and this year’s lineup continues that format. Throughout the day, the AFWL Shopping and Exhibition Halls bring together fashion, beauty, jewellery, accessories and lifestyle brands from across the continent.
African fashion has featured more prominently in international coverage over recent seasons, with luxury houses collaborating directly with African designers and a growing number showing on international schedules. AFWL2026’s additions respond to a gap that has often followed that attention: a retail platform built into the week gives designers a mechanism to convert interest into sales during the event itself, and the British Council partnership adds a structured programme on business skills for a cohort of designers from seven countries.
Both are new to this year’s edition. How they are used, by designers, buyers and the Creative DNA cohort, will become clear once the week itself takes place.
Founder and CEO Olori Ronke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi said the anniversary edition reflects AFWL’s ambition to expand beyond traditional runway presentations by bringing together fashion, music, education and commerce. She said the aim is to create opportunities for designers to develop sustainable businesses while sharing African creativity with a global audience.
AFWL2026 marks the platform’s sixteenth consecutive year running in London since its founding in 2011. This year’s schedule adds Shop The Runway and the British Council partnership to a format that has otherwise centred on the Saturday catwalk programme at a new venue.
Tickets and full programme details are available at africafashionweeklondonuk.com
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