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Editor’s Note: LUXYORA is proud to be an official media partner of AFRICA FASHION WEEK LONDON. This article forms part of our independent editorial coverage of the event, with no payment exchanged for publication.
Ten designers from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda make up this year’s Creative DNA cohort at Africa Fashion Week London. All ten carry the British Council’s Creative DNA backing, and all ten are booked for the Next Gen Runway during the event’s Saturday catwalk programme on 22 August. Together, the cohort reflects a broad cross-section of contemporary African fashion, spanning streetwear, accessories, swimwear, tailoring and costume design. The designers’ paths into the industry are equally varied, ranging from a physics graduate in Kwara State to the founder of a Nairobi-based swimwear label.
Creative DNA itself is not new. Since 2020, the programme has supported more than 200 fashion entrepreneurs across Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Malawi, working through mentorship and business development, alongside showcasing opportunities for each cohort. It began as a Kenya-only initiative before expanding into the wider Sub-Saharan programme it now runs. This year’s AFWL cohort draws on that pipeline, spread across seven countries in all.
Ethiopia sends two brands. Xufan comes from designer and digital artist Solome Kiflu, channelling Afro-futuristic fashion that pulls gaming culture and cinematic references into pieces shaped by Ethiopian heritage and self-expression. Mastewal Alemu, based in Addis Ababa and founded in December 2021, has spent four years establishing itself in sustainable African luxury.
Kenya’s two entrants sit closer to resort wear. Neema Nkatha Kinoti built Ohana Swimwear around a specific gap: authentic African-inspired swimwear in a category that had largely overlooked African identity. It has grown into one of East Africa’s more visible contemporary lifestyle labels. Atieno Studio takes a narrower lane, building bold summer and resort pieces around crochet techniques.
Ghana’s representative, the Republic of Africa, carries a decade of history behind it. The label grew out of WEAR Ghana, an established fashion house in the country, and now positions itself around restoring self-belief and elevating Black creative identity on a global stage.
Nigeria’s entrant, Dimeji Ilori, arrives with the longest independent track record of the ten. Its founder, born and raised in Ilorin, Kwara State, studied physics before moving into fashion. The Lagos-based label weaves hand-woven Asooke and heritage textiles into what its founder calls ‘wearable art’, built around identity and spirituality, with memory running through as a recurring theme. Ilori showed a collection called Natural Synthesis at Lagos Fashion Week in 2025, drawing on the Zaria Art Society’s ideas about cultural hybridisation, and has also earned a reputation for an upcycling line, Afrowaste, made from discarded clothing and thrift store finds. A past Green Access finalist, Ilori’s AFWL slot extends a run of shows that already includes one of Nigeria’s most established fashion weeks.
Zimbabwe supplies two of the ten. Soleil, founded in Harare in 2023 by Ropafadzo Kuki Mapira, builds streetwear from upcycled and locally sourced materials, setting cultural symbolism against modern silhouettes. Chido Kaseke’s PatCh Maoko specialises in handcrafted accessories, with each handbag made by hand using time-honoured techniques rather than factory production. Kaseke has spent recent seasons pushing Zimbabwean craftsmanship into global fashion conversations, balancing heritage with the pressures of scaled-up retail. Both brands are also alumni of separate Creative DNA programming beyond this year’s AFWL lineup, including Soleil’s 2025 appearance at Mozambique Fashion Week and Kaseke’s earlier selection for a British Council exchange residency in London.
Rwanda’s Matheo Studio is led by founder and creative director Maurice Niyigena, who works as a fashion and costume designer with a stated focus on using design to tell African stories and support youth and women through the industry. Uganda’s Joan Jade has been running since 2021, working with local artisans and building collections from sustainably sourced materials, with a design philosophy rooted in authenticity and individual expression.
None of the ten brands have released details of the running order within Saturday’s Next Gen Runway. What is confirmed, through the brands’ own AFWL profile pages, is that all seven countries are represented, alongside the shared Creative DNA backing behind each label. Coverage of specific looks and collections will follow once the runway schedule for individual designers is published.
This year’s cohort shows under AFWL’s “Design Beyond Borders” theme, with the main event landing at 8 Northumberland Avenue in London. Founder Queen Ronke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi has run the platform since founding it in 2011, and the weekend also introduces Shop The Runway, a new retail platform letting buyers and visitors purchase directly from designers showing on the day, alongside an expanded slate of industry talks, DJ workshops and creative collaborations running through the celebrations.
AFWL’s own historical figures put the platform’s reach at more than 3,000 designers and exhibitors and 26 African countries represented across its sixteen years.
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