Like the American work wear and handmade jewelry that have also been popular of late, African-inspired designs offer an antidote to what Max Osterweis, the filmmaker turned fashion designer behind the Suno label, calls "a luxury market filled with brands that lately have become machines for mass-produced, logo-covered status symbols".
They invited 14 artists, most of them friends from their School of Design days, to make African-inspired designs for fabric in a project they are calling StitchWorks.
Wearing African-inspired designs along with their natural unstraightened hair, they stepped on stage at the Purple Manor for a fashion show called Naturally '62.
Nigerian-born engineering student and fashion designer, Toyosi, launched Shusi in hopes to bring "African inspired designs to the forefront". Her designs have been shown on Austin's Black Homecoming Week and Fest Africa.
"African-inspired interior design," she said.
Whether it's an accessory, like a pillow with an African-inspired print, or a wall- paper pattern with a retro design, opt for cultural pieces in fresh color combinations for a modern update on traditional, global motifs.
As a self-taught designer-maker, Turay's goal is to set a benchmark for African-inspired fashion pieces, promoting quality, beautiful and well-made designs that will challenge and balance perceptions about Africa.
He designed and built his own instruments, experimented with amplified distortion, mixed urban myths and African-inspired legends in his lyrics and made the maracas a major part of rock-and-roll.
They're African-inspired and made here.
The repertory has been African or African-inspired.
