Luxury design's next frontier

Writing for The Business of Fashion in 2015, editor and media entrepreneur Helen Jennings noted that, in the fashion category in particular, Africa “can’t yet compete with mature markets in terms of manufacturing and scale, [but] it can shine by elevating its vast artisanal heritage to develop a fresh approach to handmade craftsmanship for discerning customers worldwide”. It’s a plausible argument.

Sustainability is constantly touted as the next big thing in luxury as it becomes a ubiquitous topic across industries. Traditionally, luxury has centred on exclusivity through limited quantities, high-quality materials, and exquisite craftsmanship. Now, as it becomes more confident creatively, the continent is well positioned to refine this concept further as designers and producers of luxury goods across the continent operate from a position of scarcity that entrenches innovation.

In many instances, this means not only tapping into heritage, reviving artisanal traditions, and uplifting local communities by creating work for crafters but also consolidating all of this to redefine the very meaning of luxury.

Growing Market

The African middle class continues to grow in spite of the instability — and, in some cases, stagnation — across the economic landscape. Nigeria and South Africa, in particular, are the driving forces behind Africa’s emergence as an attractive destination for luxury brands at a time when the appetite for luxury goods — designer apparel, accessories, cars, cosmetics, fragrances, and more — remains strong globally.

The former is renowned for its robust champagne-drinking culture and ever-growing imports, while the latter has become a luxury-goods shopping destination for consumers from all over the continent.

According to professional services firm Deloitte, the continent, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East will account for 25% of the global luxury market by 2025. Sub-Saharan Africa is second only to Asia Pacific in terms of the level of growth in consumer markets. Says Rodger George, Africa leader for consumer business at Deloitte: “Africa definitely provides a longer-term growth opportunity for luxury brands. The shifting appetites and behaviour of consumers in this segment will require luxury-goods retailers to develop a sophisticated but uniquely African approach to reach and satisfy the growing demand for luxury goods in this segment.”

Global brands are certainly taking note as they increase their footprint in the market, but local producers are not resting on their laurels either.

Better Times 

Artisanal watchmakers have been cropping up all over the continent, hoping to penetrate a market that has largely been dominated by traditional foreign luxury-timepiece brands. Among them is South Africa’s Xesha Creaxions, with pieces ranging from about R2 000 to R80 000. The brand prides itself on heritage and authenticity. Its Busa watch, for example, with its recognisable Bapedi and Swati symbols, tells a story of migration and shared cultures.

Cape Town-based Bettél draws inspiration from the local environment in making its handmade timepieces, with watch cases cut from discarded indigenous kiaat wood, for example.

Established in 2018 in Accra, Ghana’s Caveman is widely regarded as that country’s first watchmaker. Its products come adorned with symbols such as cave paintings instead of numbers on some timepieces and incorporate patterns from West African print fabrics on the straps of others.

Other examples are Nigeria’s Asorock Watches and Kenya’s Sued brand which, like LN Watches from KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal, incorporates local beading.

Fashionably Different 

In an interview with Luxury Society, renowned British fashion journalist Suzy Menkes once said: “There are two reasons why Africa and luxury should appear in the same sentence. The first is a new vision of what luxury means in the 21st century. Consumers, particularly in the Western hemisphere, are beginning to prize objects touched by human hands — and the handwork in Africa is exceptional.”

African fashion designers who hope to export their wares are aware of this. Among others, Nigeria’s Kenneth Ize and Lagos Space Programme and Côte d’Ivoire’s Kente Gentlemen are creating luxury fashion that taps into traditional crafts such as indigo dyeing and old-world hand-weaving techniques to produce contemporary fashion that elevates these crafts and offers consumers the kind of authenticity and traceability many global brands can’t claim.

Similarly, Ilé Ilà, the lifestyle furniture line by architect Tosin Oshinowo, expresses and celebrates Yoruba traditions by using local hardwood and traditional aso-oke fabric made by local artisans.

These are just a few examples of Africa’s luxury industry as it begins to emerge from the shadow of its international and better-resourced counterparts in the West — and this is in addition to consumer goods that go beyond the well-established five-star offerings in the hospitality industry, as well as the spirits, wine, and méthode cap classique from South Africa in particular.

As the industry slowly diversifies, the growth of the local luxury market, under-pinned by a growing middle class and an ever-increasing number of high-net-worth individuals, can only bode well for categories that don’t yet have the capacity to produce at scale and compete at a global level. By continuing to innovate and keeping sustainability at the core of operations, Africa’s luxury industry benefits by standing out and setting trends that can emerge only from this culturally rich landscape.

• From the March edition of Wanted, 2023.