Picturing yourself with a cocktail in hand, and laying by the pool in your swimwear, thinking it needs an update, well you are in luck. The swimwear industry has changed drastically recently. With many brands having more inclusion in sizes, using different colours and textures, one such brand taking full advantage of this is Tribe Afrique based in Johannesburg, noticing a huge gap in the market of designing their bikinis and swimsuits in African print.
It’s a business that only started three years ago as a stylist consultant brand for a couple of friends that needed fashion advice and guidelines about ongoing trends, explained the creative director of Tribe Afrique, Junior Adusei. He said the brand has impressively emerged to represent creativity in the African fashion industry, with its backbone being fashion innovation and transcending the so-called ‘borderlines’ for African fashion.
With bikini season well upon us, Adusei said their focal point in the design of their swimwear is African identity and creativity aiming to make it very evident in all of their designs.
“This is then followed by the comfort of our clients, taking into consideration the various ‘norms’ on body exposure in our societies. This to a huge extent, influenced our decision to introduce a three-piece bikini suit as we acknowledged that most of our patrons also tend to be older women and mothers that may not be very comfortable walking around in just the ordinary ‘overly-exposed’ two-piece bikinis. Every line we introduce bears with it its own uniqueness in design and pattern, that further emboldens you with the confidence to know you are different, and the confidence that comes with standing out – stylishly!”
Adusei said they source all fabrics locally with the aim of supporting local industries and include a few patterns from neighbouring African countries, giving the whole collection a beautiful blend of culture, style and colours.
Tribe Afrique researches the significance of each pattern used, the colours and the style they choose to use to give a true African symbolism and also create a bond between their products and their new owners. The fashion industry has fully embraced women in different sizes and races, Adusei said this is very important to them too.
“Inclusion and diversity is the daily bread of our thinking and development process. “Also, as a brand whose main focus is on African heritage, diversity is very critical in our development processes for all of our products. Not only do we try our very best to move away from creating a general uniform or attire for the patrons where one can easily bump into a look-alike, but we also pride ourselves in constantly introducing something unique and refreshing into the market.”
The clothing brand will have an upcoming plus-size-only collection which aims to change the plus-size game forever. Adusei added they will bring something refreshing, yet, gorgeous into the plus-size market.
Tribe Afrique has big plans for 2020, they are in talks with a couple of major distributors such as Takealot and Makro online website to bring their products closer to you and conveniently. They are also taking steps to bring their pop-up shops nationally, making sure not to leave any community behind.
“We also have in our plans to introduce our first-ever formal and office wear collection that we aim to use to influence the acceptance of suitable and appropriate African fashion in the corporate world. “It is really going to be an interesting journey for us at Tribe Afrique and we wish you to be part of it!”
Check out some of Tribe Afrique’s swimwear looks below:
