Africa Fashion Up major designer’s fashion show will take place on September 16, 2022 at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris

The association Share Africa is honored to announce the closing fashion show of the second edition of the Africa Fashion Up program, Friday, September 16, 2022 at 6pm, at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris. This exceptional place will host the major fashion show allowing the five young African designers selected to present several pieces of their collection. Partners of this 2022 edition include Balenciaga, Binance Charity, Galeries Lafayette, HEC Paris, Sisley and Karla Otto. Media partners include Trace, France Médias Monde, Brut Afrique and 35°Nord. The fashion show will be followed by a gala dinner supported by the Africa Fashion Foundation, Ank Impact Ventures and Rainbow.

Although still unknown to the general public, African fashion is becoming increasingly dynamic. Its growing influence is reflected through the emergence and positioning of several African fashion houses on an international scale, as well as through the adoption of its codes by brands and designers around the world. An initiative led by the association Share Africa, Africa Fashion Up is the first African fashion event in France, which aims to highlight the new generation of designers from the continent and encourage a vibrant African fashion, between tradition and modernity, between heritage and international openness.

This show will be an opportunity to showcase the creations of the five young winners selected after the call for applications Africa Fashion Up 2022. Please note that they come from different regions of the continent:

• Muyishime Edi Patrick for MUYISHIME, Rwandan designer based in Kenya;
• Fernandez Ibrahim for Ibrahim Fernandez, Ivorian designer;
• Jean-Cédric Sow for ALINA SOW, Congolese designer based in Germany;
• Mina Binebine for Mina Binebine, Moroccan designer;
• Jacques Bam for The BAM Collective, South African designer.

Haute couture designer Clarisse Hieraix and Africa Fashion Up 2021 Designer Emmanuel Okoro will also present their collections and, at the end of the event, the name of the Africa Fashion UP 2022 Grand Designer will be revealed.

The fashion show is the culmination of a coaching and mentoring program that will benefit the five winners. They will participate in masterclasses given by Balenciaga, will be invited to discover major luxury houses such as Sisley and Galeries Lafayette and participate in a round table organized by the Master Marketing New Luxury and Art of Living of Sciences Po Paris. They will also have the opportunity to attend a specialized management training module delivered by the HEC Paris business school and will receive personalized support from Balenciaga for four months as part of an extended mentoring program.

“The Africa Fashion Up show represents a unique opportunity for the five selected laureates to demonstrate their know-how while celebrating contemporary African fashion,” says Valerie Ka, international model and founder of the association Share Africa, which initiated the Africa Fashion Up program. “It is a great honor for Share Africa to have been able to establish partnerships with a fashion house and prestigious brands, in order to accompany and offer personalized training sessions to the winners. The latter represent indeed a pool of talent and creativity. And the big fashion show on Friday, September 16, a final sequence that intends to conclude this 2022 edition with boldness and inventiveness.”