Deep Dive Into Fashion Content Writing In Africa With Innocent Ndlovu

Sustainable South African brand Sindiso Khumalo, SS21

As new markets emerge the continent is abundant with stories to be told. With content being a powerful lever for fashion brands to engage, spark interest and educate their community about their work, we wanted to learn more about content writing in Africa. From challenges to areas of improvement South Africa based fashion writer Innocent Ndlovu shares his insider observations on this part of the industry.

How would you describe the process of finding publications to write for? 

From my experience, there are not a lot of major platforms on the continent. We don't have a lot of magazines or fashion platforms like in Europe or the US where there are Vogue or Business Of Fashion for instance.
I feel like while there’s a great fashion industry in Africa, the publishing side of it is still quite small. Most of the publications I've written for were international publications that focused on African fashion.

What are the most influential platforms on the continent for you?

I'm not biased or anything *laughs*, but from my experience I'll say Haute Fashion Africa and Industrie Africa. There are other publications like Glamour magazine here in South Africa for instance, but their coverage of an entire Fashion Week of 3 to 5 days often ends up in only two or three stories, or even just one. I always feel like local publications could do more. But maybe it’s not only a matter of publications but a matter of the market instead. The interest in fashion in our market here is obviously not the same as London’s for example, where people are willing to read the latest reviews in Vogue.

GHANA’S GLITZ AFRICA FASHION WEEK PUSHES FORWARD WITH LIVE SHOWS, words of Innocent Ndlovu for INDUSTRIE AFRICA

Could you go into more detail about the differences you’ve noticed in content between the West and the continent?

Here, you will see more interest from people in the fashion industry and a few others interested in fashion, brands and trends. There's not a lot of people outside the industry who are going to visit Industrie Africa or Haute Fashion Africa’s websites just to read about who Thebe Magugu or Kenneth Ize are for example. I feel like there is a greater interest internationally about what's happening on the continent - in the US and Europe specifically.

What are the major challenges for fashion content writing on the continent at the moment?

Firstly, I see that a lot of platforms tend to focus on fluffy stories everyone writes about. You will see articles like “look, five designers to know” but they haven’t gone the extra mile to research and find out more about the designers and what they do. As a writer reporting from South Africa, I want to write about the stories that people at Vogue UK don't have access to. I always try to look at what's happening on the continent and write the stories that other people couldn’t easily write about. That makes it more special.

Then, there’s the disconnect between international publications and the continent and the disconnect within the continent itself.
Sometimes, you will see a breaking news story or an emerging designer covered on Vogue or the Business Of Fashion but here in South Africa I would have no idea who that designer is. And this is almost always the case.

Then here, even though we live on the same continent, it’s hard to know about what's happening in Morocco or Kenya. I can’t pinpoint what needs to be improved in the system but it is fractured. It can get frustrating for a writer, especially when you’re always trying to discover new stories and talents.

But platforms like Industrie Africa make it easier now. We have access to different markets. We're trying to cover the African continent as a whole, not only specific regions popular for their designers and fashion cities.

DESIGNER AND ACTIVIST AWA MEITÉ DEFIES CATEGORIZATION, words of Innocent Ndlovu for INDUSTRIE AFRICA

Getting information from brands can get challenging when you’re an independent content writer. Even if you want to dig deeper, sometimes you can just make the most of what you find on the internet and social media.

Indeed. I would add that some of these creatives and designers, especially emerging designers are very talented with design but when it comes to the business side of things they have less experience. Many brands have no communication strategy or brand identity. Unfortunately it can translate into things like late email replies or no visual identity on Instagram when Instagram is all about visual aesthetic. And that’s a problem the whole continent struggles with.

What are your main resources to know more about the industry?

For me specifically, it’s showrooms and events. That’s how I get to know people and meet designers. It’s also following the right people, the global fashion weeks, the African fashion weeks, the local fashion organizations, signing up to different organizations so they add you to their media list.

It becomes a bit hard to be up to date about African fashion when you're not based on the continent because as I said, resources are not always readily available, on the web or on Instagram.