Founded and directed by Nigerian born Adiat Disu with her company Adirée, Africa Fashion Week New York (AFWNY) is a major event that focuses on re-branding Africa as a destination for luxury brands. AFWNY promotes a New Africa through fashion with talented designers from the diaspora. It's a real delight to have a beautiful platform like this in the Big Apple, where a lot of trends are coming from. After few years on the scene, AFWNY has demonstrated that they want to make a positive contribution by opening people's minds to fashion from the continent. Designers from Africa are more frequently being heralded as trendsetters —showing everyone fantastic and innovatie aspects of style far removed from "African fashion" clichés.

AFWNY took place from Thursday, July 18th to Saturday, July 20th at the Broad Street Ballroom, located in New York City’s financial district. With this year’s theme of “The Pattern of Sustainable Luxury," Adiree and partners introduced New York to designers that were profitable, luxurious, sustainable, and eco-friendly. During these 3 days, 16 international designers from the diaspora were showcased through press conferences and runways.

On Day 1, the designers involved were Sarfo of Styles(Ghana), Bill Witherspoon(African American), Khadija Maroccan Caftan NY(Marocco), Sara Karay(Kenya), Eaden Myles(Canada/Ghana) and Liz Ogumbo for SFGK(Kenya). Check the recap on pictures below, which designers do you prefer?