Angolan model Maria Borges has become the second African to appear on the cover of Elle magazine since 1997.
The celebrated 24-year-old known for her iconic natural hairstyle that she wore during the 2015 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York that made her the first black girl to wear short natural hair on the annual show, expressed how honored she was to be featured on the cover.
“Honored to be the First African Woman of the Century to be on the cover of @elleusa. Thank you everyone for your support,” Borges tweeted.
The young model has also been selected to appear on the cover of Elle’s May 2017 Swimsuit Issue, making her the second African to grace the infamous cover since its inception in 1945.
Website Spotlights Luxury African Fashions
Nigerian entrepreneur Chekwas Okafor has created a luxury fashion e-commerce website solely for high-end fashions made by Africans from all over the continent.
ONYCHEK.com, which currently includes clothing and accessories for men and women also features popular household names such as Kenya’s Adele Dejak and South Africa’s MaXhosa by Laduma.
“I started ONYCHEK.com to make luxury fashion made in Africa easily accessible to the world,” Okafor said in a statement. “I chose to focus on “made in Africa” because I believe by supporting those brands that are making their products in Africa, we can increase the demand for those products while creating jobs and preserving culture.”
Largest African Fashion Conference Hits London
The Fashion Africa Conference, the continent’s largest educational event on fashion, is set to return to London this month
The May 25-26 event, hosted by the social Enterprise Africa Fashion Guide, will coincide with Africa Day, a festival of African Unity which began in 1963.
This year’s theme is “Africa. Fashion’s Future,” said Jacqueline Shaw, creator of the Africa Fashion Guide.
Currently the artisan craft sector is the second-largest employer within the continent and over the next five years, Africa’s textile industry has been given the potential to generate over $15.5 billion in revenue as stated by the African Development Bank. The entire textile/clothing market within Africa is already worth more than $31 billion and accounts for the second largest number of jobs in developing countries after agriculture.