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Interview: Where is African design headed?

March 11, 2021

Meet the Congolese sapeurs, a Ugandan beauty queen fighting stigma surrounding HIV and find out where African design is headed.

https://p.dw.com/p/3qUng
DW Sendung The 77 Percent | Edith Kimani, Fashion
Image: DW

What does your outer appearance say about you? The 77 Percent takes you to Kinshasa to meet the Congolese sapeurs. Our host, Edith Kimani, talks to Kenyan stylist, Sunny Dolat about designs made in Africa. We meet a Ugandan beauty queen who is fighting against the stigma surrounding HIV and a designer from northern Nigeria introduces us into the world of Abaya design.  

 

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | DRC Sapeur, Fashion
Image: Benedicte Kalombo

Meet the sapeurs -  the Congolese fashionistas

The members of ‘la Sape’ – the society of entertainers and elegant people – are undoubtedly Africa’s most extravagant and stylish folk. They’re performance artists who live to uphold the culture that dates back to the 1930s. In Kinshasa, we meet designer and  sapeur, Kadhitoza Gola.

 

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | Kenya Sunny Dolat
Image: DW

Fashion made in Africa – where is it headed?

What’s happening in African fashion and can designers define their place in the fashion world? The 77 Percent’s Edith Kimani talks to Kenyan stylist and creative entrepreneur, Sunny Dolat, about how traditional fabrics and patterns are finding their way into the portfolio of African designers.

 

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | Edith Kimani, Fashion
Image: DW

Pin Wheel - African fabrics

Fabrics and textile are colorful, widely-used items of clothing across the African continent. They have a variety of names and an even bigger range of uses! DW correspondents show off what Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe have to offer.

 

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | Uganda HIV
Image: Julius Mugambwa

Meet Uganda’s Ms HIV+

Living with HIV still carries a lot of stigma with it. But every year, the Uganda Network of young people living with HIV and Aids organizes a beauty pageant to break the silence. We meet the current crown holder, Gladys Aol.

 

 The Spread – Body positivity

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | KAZ Kenya Body positivity
Image: DW

Should you as a young mother be self-conscious of your baby weight? Defintely not! Society's beauty standards are unrealistic – you’ll never be tall or skinny enough. Here’s what the 77 Percent’s sex and relationship expert KAZ thinks about this.

 

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | Nigeria Abaya
Image: Samson Adelige

Making Nigeria's iconic Abaya

For Rumaisa Rabiu Dada, the modest Abaya dress, common in Muslim societies, has become a business and an artform. The fashion designer in the Nigerian city of Kano has dedicated her time to developing her own style and training others in the craft.

 

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

SAT 13.03.2021 – 05:30 UTC
SAT 13.03.2021 – 14:30 UTC
SAT 13.03.2021 – 17:30 UTC

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Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
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SUN 14.03.2021 – 09:30 UTC
SUN 14.03.2021 – 11:30 UTC

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