By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Education (UNESCO) will be playing host to the global edition of the Africa Fashion Reception (AFR) in Paris on October 29, 2016 at its Place de Fontenoy headquarters.
This is due to a new patronage and partnership between the AFR and UNESCO (the world’s number 1 cultural organization).
According to the official letter from the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, to Her Excellency, Mrs Mariam Y. Katagum, Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO, who are co-hosts of the AFR, she congratulated the organizers on such an important initiative. She said the AFR falls into the mandate of UNESCO’s field of competence.
The AFR is a Pan African initiative. The global edition will gather fashion designers, dignitaries, Ambassadors and media from over 30 African countries, in a celebration of cultural diversity expressed through the artistic fashion discipline with the proud theme ‘Africa is the New Inspiration of Global Fashion’.
The African edition was hosted by the African Union in its headquarters in Addis Ababa from September 13 to 15, 2016.
Activities lined up during the African edition were the first African Fashion Business Summit and exhibition by each of the participating countries.
The Africa Fashion Reception is aimed at achieving the following objectives using the creative industry of Fashion as a vehicle:
- To build bridges by creating free trade and partnerships among fashion practitioners throughout the African continent
- To attract global attention to Africa’s very rich and diversified dress culture which can be explored as a catalyst for the social economic growth of the continent’s garment/textile industry.
- To expand the potential power of fashion as a tool of fighting poverty in Africa by creating wealth through the empowerment of women and youths in the various fashion vocations through training, capacity building schemes, workshops and setting up of medium/small scale businesses thereby supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063
- To bring about self-reliance as this initiative will create millions of jobs across the continent for tailors, creative directors, textile designers, models, cutters, pressers, fashion photographers and writers, hair stylists, make-up artists and many more.
The AFR is organized and packaged by Legendary Gold Limited in collaboration with UNESCO, the Nigerian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, African Union Commission and Atunda Entertainment.
According to the CEO of AFR, Mr Lexy Mojo-Eyes, ‘This platform has been specially created for positive change. The AFR is not just an event. It is a movement’
Partners include Africa Magic, Nicolas Feuillatte, Galeries Lafayette, Rail Europe, Air France, William Grant & Sons, Yandibo, Amina Magazine, Motherland Beckons, Design Essentials, Ovation International, Atunda Entertainment, Planet TV, African Independent Television, Ben TV, New African Woman & UBIZ news.
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