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Fashioning the Future: Entrepreneuring in Africa’s Emerging Fashion Industry

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Abstract

A vibrant fashion scene is emerging in Africa, spearheaded by a new generation of young fashion entrepreneurs. Drawing on a multi-sited study of Ghanaian, Ugandan and Zambian female designers, this article examines the emerging fashion industry as a site for entrepreneuring where people’s aspirations to bring about personal, cultural and socio-economic development converge. The paper reveals how fashion designers envision their endeavours as pathways for pursuing their passion, for changing the associations ascribed to ‘Africanness’, and for revitalising failing clothing industries in Africa. The paper proposes that while the emerging character of the industry creates uncertainty and many obstacles for running viable businesses, fashion designers remain enthused by narratives about the industry’s future prospects.

En Afrique, une scène de la mode particulièrement dynamique émerge, menée par une nouvelle génération de jeunes créateurs. Partant d’une recherche déployée sur plusieurs sites, étudiant des femmes designer du Ghana, de l’Ouganda et de la Zambie, cet article examine l’industrie de la mode naissante comme un site d’entrepreneurs, où convergent les désirs de provoquer des développements personnels, culturels ou socio-économique. Cette étude révèle comment les créateurs de mode envisagent leurs efforts comme étant des avenues leur permettant de poursuivre leur passion, que ce soit de changer les associations attribuées à ‘l’Africanité’, ou la revitalisation des industries de mode qui font échec. Bien que le caractère émergent de cette industrie créé de l’incertitude, et de nombreux obstacles pour le bon fonctionnement des entreprises, la recherche propose que les créateurs de mode restent enthousiastes quant aux perspectives d’avenir de cette industrie.

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Acknowledgments

The research that this article builds on was supported by the Consultative Research Committee for Development Research (FFU) of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Danida) under Grant number 09-059KU. I wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers as well as Ana Alacovska and Katherine V. Gough for their valuable input to the paper.

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  1. Department of Intercultural Communication and Management, Centre for Business and Development Studies, Copenhagen Business School, Porcelænshaven 18, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Thilde Langevang

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Langevang, T. Fashioning the Future: Entrepreneuring in Africa’s Emerging Fashion Industry. Eur J Dev Res 29, 893–910 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-016-0066-z

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