Pitti Uomo 89 focuses on emerging African designers

The next edition of Pitti Uomo, from 12th to 15th January 2016 in Florence, will focus on emerging young African talent. The Pitti Discovery Foundation, in collaboration with ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative, continues with the Generation Africa project after the positive feedback from the previous edition.

On Thursday 14th January at the Dogana in Via Valfonda, Florence, the catwalk will be graced by the collections of four African designers who manufacture in their countries of origin. They are AKJP, Ikiré Jones, Lukhanyo Mdinigi x Nicholas Coutts and U.Mi-1.

"We continue our collaboration with Pitti Immagine to shine the spotlight on the creativity coming from Africa. We wish to offer a different image of this continent, endowed with innovation, diversity and a youthful, powerful energy for a positive outlook towards the future," said Simone Cipriani, founder and director of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative, the leading programme by the International Trade Centre, an agency operating under the aegis of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

ITC connects fashion's foremost international talents to small artisans, especially women, coming from East and West Africa and Haiti. The AKJP brand, from creative duo Keith Henning and Jody Paulsen, hails from South Africa and is inspired by sportswear, while Ikiré Jones, by eclectic designer Walé Oyéjidé, flirts with African tradition. South African designers Lukhanyo Mdingi and Nicholas Coutts feature a sophisticated style, while U.Mi-1, born in 2008 in Tokyo from the creativity of designer Gozi Ochonogor, combines her twin passions, engineering studies and men's fashion.