At BAKUS ORAYA, Cotton in Its Final State
BAKUS ORAYA is the kind of house that builds its identity by what it leaves out. Since founding the label, Abdoul Manane Bakary has approached fabric as origin rather than ornament, and Coton Brut, the collection he has been refining across multiple shows, has been the long case for that position. The final chapter, presented […]
The Scaling Gap, in Beauty
In Accra, Victorine Sarr is managing customer orders while navigating shipping delays, rising supplier costs, and limited local manufacturing capacity. In London, Mimi Koné is building her beauty brand with closer proximity to retailers, investors, and international distribution networks. Both founders operate within the same global beauty industry, but not within the same systems of […]
Cotonou Knows Exactly What It’s Doing
Cotonou Knows Exactly What It’s Doing Amazone Statue, Cotonou, Benin. Photo: Présidence du Bénin. Every West African knows Cotonou, whether or not they have ever stopped to think about why. The auntie who goes for fabric knows it. The trader who crosses the border from Nigeria knows it. The goods that show up in Lagos […]
Funky Fahd Will See You Now
Funky Fahd Will See You Now The best store in Marrakech has no website, no address, and no plans to change that. Courtesy of Fahd Al Marsaoui / Funky Cool Medina There are cities you visit. And there are cities you’re quietly introduced to. Through people, through instinct, through doors that never appear on itineraries. […]
Kondokpo: Georgiana Viou and Nokx Majozi at Sofitel Cotonou
On the evening of April 1st, inside the Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa, that shift took form around a table
Before Rio, There Was Luanda
Samba, the Rhythm That Refused to Stay Still
Material Literacy: The Knowledge in Cloth
Mariama Camara on authorship, ownership, and the distance between admiration and accountability.
Kibonen and the Business of Cultural Authority
How a Cameroonian designer turned a single garment into a cultural and economic system—from New York to Cairo
The Blues That Never Left Africa
When Ali Farka Touré first heard John Lee Hooker’s records in the 1960s, the
Kusi Kubi on PALMWINE IceCREAM SS26, Craft, and His Mother’s Wardrobe
PALMWINE IceCREAM, the Ghana–London brand led by designer Kusi Kubi, released its SS26 campaign this week