Africa Fashion: a colorful fashion exhibition at the Quai Branly Museum

From March 31 to July 12, 2026, the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac hosts the exhibition Africa Fashion, an exceptional immersion into the rich and vibrant world of African fashion, from traditional textiles to the most daring contemporary creations. Designed by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, this touring exhibition brings contemporary works into dialogue with the Parisian museum’s rarely displayed historical collections, offering visitors a unique visual, cultural, and emotional experience.

Africa Fashion celebrates the rise of the African fashion scene over the past twenty years

 Africa Fashion celebrates the rise of the African fashion scene over the past twenty years, driven by a new generation of designers from cities such as Lagos, Dakar, and Johannesburg, now present on international fashion circuits alongside Paris or Milan. This exhibition highlights how African designers are reinventing stylistic codes, blending centuries-old artisanal know-how with contemporary innovation to explore identity, gender, tradition, and modernity.

The exhibition route unfolds at the heart of the museum’s Garden Gallery, where clothing, accessories, fabrics, and African jewelry rarely displayed are presented alongside photographic works drawn from archives and public contributions. This dialogue between past and present highlights Africa’s cultural evolution and its impact on global fashion trends.

The exhibition is curated by Christine Checinska, curator of the Africa and Diaspora: Textiles and Fashion department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in collaboration with Hélène Joubert (Chief Curator at the Quai Branly) and Christine Barthe (Head of photographic collections). Their work underscores the importance of understanding fashion beyond simple garments: as a form of identity-based, political, and social expression.

Reposition African fashion as an essential cultural and economic force

Africa Fashion is part of a global movement that repositions African fashion as an essential cultural and economic force. From Johannesburg to Europe’s fashion capitals, African designers have gained visibility and influence. The exhibition illustrates this progression by addressing the multiple influences and narratives woven into the selected pieces, which tell personal and collective stories of migration, belonging, and creativity.

The scenography, designed by ROLL (Ian Ollivier and Lucie Rebeyrol), plays a key role in the visitor experience: colors, textures, and materials are staged to create an immersive encounter with African aesthetic forms.

The exhibition is not limited to a static presentation: it is accompanied by a rich program of workshops, guided tours, and participatory activities, designed for all audiences, including families and young fashion enthusiasts. Audioguides, accessible routes, and educational materials extend the discovery beyond the exhibited works.

Africa Fashion also fits into a broader dynamic: the growing international recognition of African fashion as a space for innovation and global cultural expression

Africa Fashion also fits into a broader dynamic: the growing international recognition of African fashion as a space for innovation and global cultural expression. Today, African designers no longer create solely for local audiences, but actively contribute to redefining major currents in global design. Their work, often committed and engaged, reflects a plural Africa, proud of its roots and looking toward the future.

By placing historic textile traditions alongside vibrant contemporary creations, the exhibition offers a renewed reading of African fashion art — not only as material heritage, but as a living language in constant evolution. For lovers of fashion, history, or culture, Africa Fashion is an invitation to rethink fashion as a powerful vector of identity, memory, and creative innovation.

To find out more : https://www.quaibranly.fr/fr/expositions-evenements/au-musee/expositions/details-de-levenement/e/africa-fashion