What the business of fashion means for Africa

Watch the full episode on Youtube and subscribe to be notified about our next episodes !

At Silverbacks, we are bullish on Africa’s creativity especially expressed through the lenses? of the fashion industry. In our podcast’s previous episode - the first in a series titled “A New Class of Operators in the Creative Economy- Laureen Kouassi-Olsson of Birimian Ventures brilliantly noted that exploring luxury and fashion in Africa was not a distraction but very much a lucrative venture to consider.

In this second episode of this series, I’m joined with Lulu Shabell Founder and Chief Creativity Champion of LuluBell Group, an advisory firm that represents and manages African fashion brands, Meron Demisse , Founder and CEO of Culture & Conversations on Africa? , an advocacy platform that looks at every angle of our African cultures and Safiétou Seck Seck, a phenomenal Senegalese designer who impressed us during her fashion show on the sidelines of SuperReturn Africa 2022. She put on an epic performance at the halftime show of the exhibition game organized by our favorite basketball team, the Cape Town Tigers .

5 BIG IDEAS DISCUSSED IN THE VALLEY WITH LULU, MERON & SAFI?

1.) "Fashion has not until now been looked as relevant for economic development”

Lulu discusses the untapped potential that fashion and the creative industries at large can represent for Africa’s youth. She makes a compelling call for policies, structures, and governance to be put in place to teach young creatives about value chains and how they operate.?

2.) “We cannot value brands from countries we’ve not been exposed to”

Meron speaks to the intersection between tourism and fashion. She explains how Culture & Conversations in Africa was started as a platform to bridge the knowledge gap that we as Africans have about one another. She strongly believes that Intra-African tourism is a powerful tool to leverage to increase the value and recognition of African fashion brands.?

3.) “I am an economist who became a fashion designer”

Safi explains how her journey led her from being an economist to starting her own fashion label. She shares why her understanding of macroeconomics trends actually influenced how she structured her business.?

4.) "Tech can help us find balance between growing our African fashion industry and sustainability goals"

Lulu highlights the risks and opportunities as our cultural and natural heritage are helping produce major fashion businesses. She advocates for tech to not be separated from decisions made around the structuring of Africa’s fashion industry : to her, innovation will be pivotal in developing an industry that is sustainable.

5.) “We want Africa's creative capital to be recognized."?

Meron reflects on the definition of African identities. She notes that being African has often been defined from an external perspective : today she calls for Africans to be more in tune with their identities for themselves and recognize the rich cultural heritage that comes alongside such identity.?

You can follow our LinkedIn page Silverbacks Holdings for more updates.

Find us also on Instagram and Twitter.

Our episodes are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anghami and Audiomack.