From cross-industry discussions and a curated creative marketplace to a runway celebrating African street culture and luxury, the African Fashion Forum places fashion at the centre of FAME Week Africa’s 2026 programme in Cape Town.
FAME Week Africa returns to Cape Town in October 2026, bringing together professionals from film, television, music, fashion and digital entertainment. Its main market, conference and exhibition will take place from 28–30 October at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC 2), with associated events extending from 27 October to 1 November.
With 211 speakers and more than 80 buyers and commissioning editors expected across the wider programme, the event provides a meeting point for African creative businesses and international industry representatives. France will participate as the 2026 Destination Country, contributing to discussions and opportunities for collaboration across the creative sectors.
Within this multidisciplinary setting, the African Fashion Forum (AFF) will explore fashion’s growing influence across screen, music and entertainment, while its showroom and flagship runway experience will connect contemporary African design with cultural exchange and commercial opportunities.
African Fashion Forum: Where Fashion Meets Film, Music and Creative Enterprise
The African Fashion Forum brings fashion into a broader conversation about Africa’s interconnected creative industries. Through a curated programme of talks and industry discussions, it will examine how designers, stylists, costume professionals, filmmakers, musicians and brands increasingly collaborate across traditional industry boundaries.
Topics will include costume and character development, artist styling, fashion on screen, cultural influence and brand partnerships. These intersections reflect fashion’s expanding role in visual storytelling and entertainment, where clothing contributes to the identities of performers, the development of screen characters and the wider cultural narratives reaching international audiences.
For designers and independent creative businesses, such collaborations can also create commercial opportunities beyond conventional fashion retail. Costume commissions, artist partnerships, licensing arrangements and brand collaborations offer potential routes into adjacent markets, although their long-term value depends on the relationships and business structures developed around them.
The forum’s programme extends beyond discussions through two complementary initiatives: the AFF Showroom, which introduces a direct retail and exhibition component, and Tastes + Threads, a fashion experience combining runway presentations with food, music and entertainment.
AFF Showroom: Connecting African Creativity With Commerce
The AFF Showroom at CTICC will provide a curated exhibition and retail environment for selected designers, brands and creators working across fashion, film, television, music, publishing and design. Participants will have an opportunity to present and sell their work directly to FAME Week Africa attendees, bringing creative businesses into contact with potential customers and industry collaborators.
Unlike conventional fashion presentations, where the emphasis falls primarily on collections and creative direction, the showroom introduces a more immediate commercial dimension. Direct engagement with visitors can provide independent brands with opportunities to communicate their work, develop professional relationships and explore market interest.
Its multidisciplinary format also reflects the African Fashion Forum’s wider ambition to connect creative disciplines. By bringing fashion into a shared marketplace with other cultural industries, the initiative highlights how design, storytelling and commerce increasingly operate within overlapping professional networks.
Tastes + Threads: From the Streets to the World
On 29 October, Tastes + Threads will bring the African Fashion Forum’s creative programme to the runway through an experience combining fashion, food, live music and entertainment.
The 2026 presentation, titled Threads of Africa: From the Streets to the World, will explore contemporary African fashion through two thematic chapters. Urban Pulse will draw on the energy and visual language of African street culture, while Africa Elevated will shift the focus towards craftsmanship, artistic expression and contemporary luxury.
The contrast between the two chapters reflects the breadth of the continent’s fashion landscape, from streetwear and youth-driven cultural expression to established design houses exploring materials, heritage and refined construction.
The announced lineup comprises eight fashion brands: S.W.A.N.K. Jozi, THETHANA, EMOTIVES, Xandria Kawanga, Neimil, GUGUBYGUGU, VIVIERS and Jacques LaGrange Couture.
Beyond presenting individual collections, the event’s combination of fashion and entertainment places design within a wider cultural setting. It also reflects the increasingly close relationship between fashion, music, performance and visual storytelling across African creative industries.
The Designers: Heritage, Craftsmanship and Contemporary Expression
The participating labels represent distinct approaches to contemporary African fashion, drawing on cultural heritage, material experimentation, tailoring and evolving ideas of luxury.
Johannesburg-based VIVIERS, founded by Lezanne Viviers, works at the intersection of fashion, art and sculpture, exploring material expression through experimentation and collaboration with artisans. From Lesotho, THETHANA, led by Nkotseng Moleko, draws on Basotho heritage and traditional textiles, including seshoeshoe, to develop contemporary womenswear.
South African brand Neimil, co-founded by Keneilwe Mothoa and Lubabalo Mxalisa, approaches fashion and homeware through slow design, locally handcrafted production and cultural storytelling. GUGUBYGUGU, established by designer Gugu Peteni, explores sculptural tailoring and knitwear, incorporating materials such as South African wool and mohair into its contemporary luxury collections.
Representing Malawi, designer Xandria Kawanga, through House of Xandria, combines contemporary fashion with an interest in adaptive clothing, introducing accessibility and inclusion into her broader design philosophy.
The wider lineup, including S.W.A.N.K. Jozi, EMOTIVES and Jacques LaGrange Couture, adds further creative perspectives to the presentation, illustrating the diversity of labels participating in this year’s runway.
While the designers’ practices vary, their work provides different points of entry into conversations about responsible fashion. The preservation of textile traditions, support for specialist craftsmanship, considered production and inclusive design can contribute to cultural and social sustainability, although environmental performance requires separate evidence relating to sourcing, manufacturing processes, resource use and product longevity.
For African designers navigating international markets, these distinctions are increasingly relevant. Cultural heritage and craftsmanship can establish a distinctive creative identity, but sustaining those practices also depends on viable business models and economic opportunities for the people involved in production.
Beyond Fashion: The Wider FAME Week Africa Programme
The African Fashion Forum forms part of a broader programme encompassing MIP Africa, Muziki Africa and the FAME Shorts Film Festival, alongside activities dedicated to film, television, animation, music and digital content.
Across the main market and conference, delegates will have access to screenings, pitching opportunities, professional meetings and discussions covering production, distribution, financing, intellectual property, artificial intelligence and the changing business of African entertainment.
As Cape Town prepares to welcome participants from across Africa and international markets, the event offers an opportunity to examine how cultural influence can translate into stronger professional networks, new collaborations and more sustainable creative enterprises.
Event Information
FAME Week Africa 2026
Main Market, Conference & Exhibition: 28–30 October 2026
Wider Programme: 27 October – 1 November 2026
Venue: Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC 2), South Africa
African Fashion Forum: 28 October 2026
Tastes + Threads: 29 October 2026
Official website: FAME Week Africa
African Fashion Forum: Official programme
Tastes + Threads: Official programme
Instagram: @fameweekafrica
