What To Expect at the Upcoming 2025 African Fashion and Arts Awards
Art Showcase at the 2023 AFAAs
Image courtesy of the African Fashion and Arts Awards
The 2025 AFAA is approaching, marking another year to celebrate African creatives who champion and spearhead Africa’s creative economy. This is the 5th year where designers, artists, and creatives will converge to showcase the pure, undiluted talent.
To properly appreciate this award, let us take a trip down memory lane.
The AFAA 2024
The AFAA 2024 was held in Cape Town, South Africa, and it was a blast. It showcased designs from brands like Blush by Lamims, House of Gianna, Ligu Stitches, and Annette Couture. Models from different African countries, like Nigeria, Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho, and Tanzania, were also invited.
The runway showcase was an ethereal moment as models walked the stage in designs that were the embodiment of African magic. And to wrap it up, the AFAA end-of-the-year lunch was held in Abuja with volunteers. This was a way to appreciate their efforts, and some were even rewarded with certificates.
The 2023 AFAAs
The 2023 AFAAs was an even bigger success, and it was held in Abuja, Nigeria.
It was kicked off with the AFAA Masterclass and Mentorship symposium held on December 1st. This included many modules that focused on key concepts/sections in the fashion industry, such as photography, taxation, and business.
On December 2nd, the Achievement Awards Show was held. The theme was “celebrating creativity and rewarding key stakeholders and ecosystem players for their commitment towards the growth and development of the African fashion and arts industry.”
In this show, well-deserving individuals/groups were recognized and rewarded for their significant contributions to the ecosystem. Some award winners included the Sun XA experiment for the African Performing Art Group Award, Realbees LTD for the African Innovative Smart Real Estate Company Awards, and Dr. Bello Abdul-Lateef for the African Public Service Personality Award.
The event also included a fashion showcase that featured brands like Jack and Jill, Naazaa Design, Ursula, and many others. And of course, the AFAA Vendors Festival was ongoing through these other events. It ran from the 1st to the 3rd of December.
The impact and achievements of the AFAA
As we prepare to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the AFAAwards, it is only fair that we also reminisce on the countless achievements of this organisation.
They have projected over 90 fashion designers across the continent on their platform
Over 20 creatives have been spotlighted on AFAA Magazine
More than 15 designers have been sponsored, supported, and recommended for global impact
The AFAA ART XPRESSION & partner galleries have featured 35+ artists
7+ countries have been connected through AFAA Fashion and art initiatives
For the past 3 years, over 300 MSMEs have benefited through the AFAA Shopping Festival
The AFAA Marketplace has generated over ₦90M ($65K) in sales
1000+ students have been impacted through the Mental Well-being awareness through the AFAA Foundation
In just 4 years, the AFAA has made numerous groundbreaking changes and achievements to the African creative community. They deserve all the flowers.
What Should You Look Forward To This Year
The Africa Fashion and Arts Conference and the AFAA Awards 2025, The 5th Anniversary Celebration will be held at Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Nigeria, on November 21st.
The award categories
Now at the AFAA, every creative deserves recognition, which is why the award categories are quite voluminous. There are three categories for the AFAA: the Arts, Fashion, and Achievement.
Under the Arts category, there are 15 awards.
1) Podcast and spoken words artist award
2) Art Gallery Award
3) Photographer Award
4) Writer/Publisher Award
5) Visual Art Award
6)Plastic Art Award
7) Performing Art Award
8) Contemporary Art Award
9) Decorative Art Award (Interior & Exterior Designer)
10) New Media Art Award (software, video games, digitalized creative content, VFX, virtual reality, etc.)
11) Creative services Award (architectural, advertising, creative R&D, cultural and recreational activities)
12) Make-up Artist Award
13) Art Social Media Presence Award
14) Emerging Artist Award
15) Art Patron Award
Under the Fashion category, there are also 15 awards. Here are all of them;
1) Fashion Entrepreneur Award
2) Fashion Photographer Award
3) Fashion Content Creator Award
4) Fashion Media Brand Award
5) Textile & Fabric Brand Award
6) Fashion Stylist Award
7) Fashion Model Award (Male)
8) Fashion Model Award (Female)
9) Emerging Fashion Designer Award
10) Fashion Designer Award
11) Fashion Legal Brand Award
12) Fashion Institution Award
13) Make-up Brand Award
14) Fashion Brand of the Year Award
15) Fashion Event of the Year Award
And finally, the Achievement category, which has 10 awards;
1) AFAA Youth Empowerment Org. Award
2) AFAA Tourism Promotion Personality Award
3) AFAA Tourism Promotion Org Award
4)AFAA Man Award
5) AFAA Woman Award
6) AFAA Luxury Hospitality Company Award
7)AFAA Lifestyle Personality Award
8) AFAA Lifestyle Organization Award
9) AFAA Tech Organisation of the Year Award
10) AFAA Tech Personality Award
To see the awards on the AFAA website, click here.
To nominate your candidate of choice, you can go here. All you will need to do is fill out your name, email, phone or WhatsApp number, the nominee’s name, a few details about the nominee, and finally, the nominee’s social media or website.
If you are a creative, you are more than welcome to vote and nominate yourself as well!
Ekinken is an official media partner for the African Fashion and Arts Awards, so we will be here to give you the news, updates, and developments surrounding the event leading up to the event. In addition to this, expect to see us at the event live and direct in November!