Fashion

The pandemic has transformed way we consume and experience fashion. The latest Paris Fashion Week was entirely digital. For the first time in the event's history, proceedings kicked off with the work of students from the Paris-based French Institute of Fashion (IFM), who see their creations through the prism of cultural and political significance. Meanwhile in Johannesburg, South African designer Thebe Magugu is dedicated to reviving the "blaxploitation" cultural movement of the 1970s.

They were supposed to come from Johannesburg, Brazzaville, Lagos and Abidjan but their travel plans were thwarted by the Covid-19 pandemic The eighth edition of the Lomé International Fashion Festival had to recruit models from closer to home instead, with a handful managing to travel to the Togolese capital from Ghana and Gabon. So what exactly does it mean to be a model in Africa in 2021? We hear first-hand from some of those in the industry.

Mirror, mirror on the wall… who's the fairest of them all? Dior’s sumptuous and subversive film for next autumn's ready-to-wear offerings suggests the answer isn't a simple one. With in-person fashion weeks still cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the film was shot inside Versailles's world-famous hall of mirrors. Maria Grazia Chiuri takes us deep into a world of fairy tales with the help of a challenging set from Italian artist Silvia Giambrone, set off by choreography from Sharon Eyal.

Organising a fashion festival during a pandemic is no mean feat, especially when the event's budget has been slashed and designers and models alike are barred from travelling. But Jacques Logoh, the founder of Togo's annual International Fashion Festival, isn't easily deterred. From 18 to 21 February 2021, 30 stylists from across West Africa gathered in the Togolese capital to show, once again, what they're capable of. We went to check it out.

Haute couture at its best is a dazzling array of possibilities. It's also increasingly an artform being expressed through the medium of film, with in-person fashion shows still off-bounds thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato has embraced new techniques both inspired and showcased by model-turned-activist Lauren Wasser, who lost both her legs to toxic shock syndrome. Meanwhile, Italy's Sofia Crociani finds inspiration in cognitive experiments from the 1950s and '60s that tracked the effect of LSD on spiders.

Fashion, at its heart, is about creating images: images that inspire, question and excite. Today, millions of them are shared on social media every single day. Armed with some top tips and a plethora of filters, almost anyone with a smartphone can capture an arresting image. But in order to become truly iconic, you need something more. We went to meet rising star Julien Boudet, a highly in-demand street style photographer who's also making waves on the international art scene.

If you can’t come to Haute couture, it will come to you! It's been this way for almost a year, although we are all hoping the new normal won't continue for too much longer. In the meantime, we check out the offering for summer 2021 couture, revealed as short films published on social media. At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri has teamed up with Italian director Matteo Garrone to tell an enchanting sartorial tale through Tarot cards. The film is both a form of advertising and a cinematic accomplishment.

Covid-19 restrictions mean that Paris Fashion Week is taking place in the digital sphere. In-the-flesh fashion shows, interviews and parties aren't happening – instead, buyers and journalists get to sit back and watch a series of films via social media. So how are these films made? We spent 72 hours with Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, a young Parisian designer whose collection, shown at the Palais de Tokyo, is inspired by Franz Kafka's book "The Trial" and brought to life with the help of choreographer Sohrâb Chitan.

It's no secret that fashion relies heavily on media attention. But fashion documentaries remain rare. All the more reason, then, to welcome the arrival of a film that tells the adventure of colette, an iconic, ground-breaking concept store on Paris's rue Saint-Honoré that stood for 20 event-filled years, until 2017. Filmmakers Hugues and Eliane Lawson-Body were granted rare access to the boutique in its final months.

This year, Dakar Fashion Week is all grown up and celebrating its eighteenth birthday! So what better opportunity to sit down with the event's founder, Adama Ndiaye. She has been fighting to promote African fashion for decades: through her own collections and also through the Black Fashion Weeks she's organised. Back in 2014, the now 44-year-old designer and business owner was named one of the 10 most influential Africans by FRANCE 24's sister radio station RFI. She tells us her story.