7 African designers spotlighted at global fashion weeks this year

2026 has been one of African fashion’s biggest years on the global stage, with designers from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya showing at fashion weeks in London, Paris, Milan and Moscow.

Some of them were making history, some were making their debut, and Ghana alone had three names on the London runways.

These are the African designers who were spotlighted at global fashion weeks this year.

1. Christie Brown (Ghana) – London

Aisha Ayensu’s Christie Brown started the year in London, where it was part of the first cohort of Brand63Africa, a new initiative that brings designers of African heritage into the global luxury market. The showcase made its debut during London Fashion Week in February, and King Charles III attended. As part of the programme, pieces from Christie Brown and the other designers in the cohort will be sold at Harrods.

2. MaXhosa Africa (South Africa) – Paris

Laduma Ngxokolo’s MaXhosa Africa opened Paris Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2027 season, its first show on the official Paris calendar. Photographer Chris Saunders, who shot the show, described it as the first time a South African fashion house had shown on the official schedule. The collection, Izihlwele Zivumile, which Ngxokolo translates as “the ancestors have agreed”, looked back on the brand’s 16-year journey with a cleaner, more monochrome take on the Xhosa-inspired knitwear that made the label famous.

3. Koffi Maako (Ghana) – London

Founded by Ghanaian designer Mako Akolam, Koffi Maako was selected for Fashion Scout’s Ones To Watch catwalk show during London Fashion Week, held from 19 to 21 September. The brand draws on the visual language of Gurunsi architecture to create sculptural garments that sit somewhere between fashion, art and object. Its collection, Teknicolor, featured eight looks in eight colours, made in Akolam’s studio in Accra before going to London.

4. Orange Culture (Nigeria) – Berlin

Adebayo Oke-Lawal’s Orange Culture made Berlin a second home this year, showing at Berlin Fashion Week twice. Its Fall/Winter 2026 show was the brand’s third showcase in the city, and it returned on 3 July with its Spring 2027 collection, Water Will Carry Us. The label is known for challenging traditional ideas of African masculinity through fluid, colourful menswear, and it has become one of Nigeria’s best-known names abroad, even showing at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 2024.

5. Boyedoe (Ghana) – London

David Kusi Boye-Doe, the first Ghanaian semi-finalist for the LVMH Prize, made his London Fashion Week debut with Boyedoe on 21 September at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, as part of the Vanity Hub Africa show. The collection, titled Chapter S/S 27, was well received online, with fellow designers and creatives flooding the brand’s post with congratulations.

6. Onalaja (Nigeria) – London

British-Nigerian designer Kanyinsola Onalaja made her London Fashion Week debut this season after a fire destroyed her office and warehouse over the summer, along with most of her archives, samples and sketchbooks. She turned that loss into a phoenix-inspired collection that moved from burnt oranges and smoky greys to flashes of colour, with broken beads on evening gowns, fringe and feathers. She described it to Fashionista as “a new story of a rebirth, moving from the darkness into a new life.”

7. Victor Hart (Ghanaian heritage) – Milan

Victor Hart, a label that combines Ghanaian heritage with Italian manufacturing, made its womenswear debut at Milan Fashion Week in September, months after its first men’s show in January. The collection was built on upcycled denim: old jeans were taken apart and hand-reconstructed into patchwork jackets, trousers, dresses and denim hats, which models carried with large woven straw fans.

8. KikoRomeo (Kenya) – Moscow

Ann McCreath’s Kenyan label KikoRomeo, one of East Africa's pioneering fashion houses, showed its Ewala collection at Moscow Fashion Week on 1 October, with support from Nairobi Fashion Week. Creatively directed by Ann and Iona McCreath, the collection paired sharp tailoring with fluid shapes and was made from rain-fed organic cotton and handloom textiles, finished with hand-carved coconut shell buttons.

After a successful run abroad, some of these designers are now bringing their work back to the continent. Ghanaian labels Christie Brown and Boyedoe are both on the schedule for Lagos Fashion Week, which runs from 28 October to 1 November, with Christie Brown showing on Thursday and Boyedoe on Saturday, alongside fellow Ghanaian designer Jermaine Bleu, who shows on Friday. Closer to home, Glitz Africa Fashion Week returns to Accra from 10 to 13 November, giving local audiences their own chance to see some of the continent’s best established and emerging designers on the runway.