The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) has announced its plans for its next fashion exhibition, Africa Fashion. This will be the first time that the museum has focused on the African fashion scene and will tell a story of fashion as a self-defining art form; a movement of culture that goes beyond individual garments to encompass attitude, gesture and style. The exhibition will be curated by Dr Christine Checinska, the museum’s new curator of African and African Diaspora fashion, and will celebrate the vitality and innovation of Africa’s vibrant fashion scene.


The V&A has issued a public call-out, to enhance the exhibition, for the following items:

• Rare and early designs by Shade Thomas-Fahm, Chris Seydou, Kofi Ansah and Alphadi
• 1980s experimental garments in bògòlanfini by Chris Seydou
• Twentieth-century kente, bògòlanfini, khanga, asafo flags and commemorative cloths from the independence and liberation years that connect to personal stories
• Family portraits and home movies from the independence and liberation years showing African and African diasporic fashion trends of the day
• Made-to-order garments, including aso ebi, co-created by local tailors, dressmakers and their clients, worn at festivals or to mark significant personal milestones, from 2010 onwards 
• Copies of Drum Magazine from 1950 – 1970

The V&A's Africa Fashion exhibition is scheduled to open in June 2022 and will run until April 2023.