Established and emerging African designers are showcasing their work at this year's Africa Fashion Week London. But in an era where vloggers are increasingly setting fashion trends, BBC Africa's Alexis Akwagyiram considers whether the fashion focus has moved from the catwalk to cyberspace.
The fashion world is, stereotypically, summed up by the image of beautiful models gliding up and down a catwalk, adorned in flamboyant clothes.
Such scenes are a staple of Africa Fashion Week, an annual London event - now in its fourth year.
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"Africa is hot right now," says Josette Matomby, a Congolese event manager and fashion designers based in east London who is one of the event's co-founders.
She cites Dutch firm Vlisco, which has come to dominate parts of the continent's fashion market, as an example of this trend.
Ms Matomby says African prints have become fashionable in recent years and have been adopted by large fashion houses such as Burberry.
The fear that African designers were not benefitting from the popularity of their work was part of the motivation behind setting up the annual celebration of style in Africa and its diaspora, which she co-founded.
Such scenes are a staple of Africa Fashion Week, an annual London event - now in its fourth year.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
"Africa is hot right now," says Josette Matomby, a Congolese event manager and fashion designers based in east London who is one of the event's co-founders.
She cites Dutch firm Vlisco, which has come to dominate parts of the continent's fashion market, as an example of this trend.
Ms Matomby says African prints have become fashionable in recent years and have been adopted by large fashion houses such as Burberry.
The fear that African designers were not benefitting from the popularity of their work was part of the motivation behind setting up the annual celebration of style in Africa and its diaspora, which she co-founded.
Diaspora influence
However, Mrs Goje - who has three children aged under the age of eight - concedes that the African images of beauty and style her children grow up with will largely be dictated by the technology they consume.
Everything is visual now. Videos are making a huge impact and that will only increase going forward," she says.
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It seems that vloggers, designers and journalists are in general agreement that ties between Africans around the world lies at the heart of conversations related to style and fashion.
In the UK, for example, African communities are growing.
Comparison between the UK census in 2001 and 2011 reveal that the country's black African population more than doubled from 484,783 to 989,628. Africans also overtook Caribbeans to become the the majority group in the country's black community during that period.
"The relationship between African and its diaspora is changing in a positive way. More people in the diaspora are looking to home now. People are embracing their culture more," Mrs Goje says.
This, of course, begs the question of why such an event would be held in London, rather than an African city.
Africa Fashion Week co-founder Ms Matomby is quick to provide an answer.
"What happens in London, Paris, Milan and New York influences fashion worldwide," she argues.
"Africa and its diaspora need to have an impact on London to exert influence in the rest of the world."
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