On Saturday, June 23rd, thirty-five designers from Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Mali, South Africa and other countries flocked to the Dakar Fashion Week to exhibit their fantastic creations. Set to the theme of “My Africa”, the designers and their collections proved once again that the continent is more than apt to become a part of the global fashion scene, and this is the narrative the founder of this event, Adama Ndiaye, is adamant to share with the rest of the world.

The audience was particularly taken by South African designers such as Quitera and George, and the label Magents, by Didier de Villiers and Mothei Khomiso. Magents took the concept of “My Africa” further by leaving a playful but particularly strong statement on the soles of their colourful sneaker collections: a map of Africa – they are literally putting Africa’s fashion industry on the map with this creative take on the show’s theme. This wasn’t the only statement Magents made via their clothes though: models walked the runway with powerful anti-rape messages emblazoned on their chests to raise awareness of the ongoing violence against women.

The theme for this years’ Fashion Week Dakar, came up when Ndiaye discussed representation and the definition of Africa with her girlfriends.

“For me, ‘My Africa’ is creative. And we went around the table. Each of them was asked what’s your Africa. My Africa is proud. The other said My Africa is bold, the other My Africa is colourful. And in the end what we got were powerful words that were coming out of that and I think there is nothing better than to chant, really to chant and shout out loud what we love so that it can be integrated into this youth, this pride to be African and the pride to evolve in Africa,” Ndiaye told Africa News.