10 African Streetwear Brands You Need In Your Closet in 2018
In the fifth installment of our 2017 holiday gift guide, we feature our 10 favorite African streetwear brands.
This is our fifth gift guide in the run-up to the holidays. Keep checking for more lists of great African products here. And for more ideas check out the OkayAfrica Shop.
One of the best ways to express pride in your identity and culture is through clothing.
These featured brands will help you do just that, as they too want to foster a connection between Africa and the diaspora, renew pride and empower while looking fresh and effortless. These brands also had a strong 2017, coming with eye-catching collections that we couldn't ignore.
See our 2019 #BuyBlack Black Friday and holiday shopping guide here
Check out these African streetwear brands you need to rock in 2018 below.
1. Daily Paper
Daily Paper is an Amsterdam-based menswear label that's inspired by the founder's African background and passion for contemporary fashion. The brand is impacted by Africa's diverse cultures and focused on authenticity, as well as quality tailoring.
2. Pop Caven
Pop Caven represents today's contemporary Africa while simultaneously celebrating African culture and pop culture. The brand was born out of realizing the gap in the market for African inspired modern casual wear.
3. TELFAR
TELFAR is a consistent, forward thinking brand that continues to define gender fluid fashion. Telfar Clemens is the Liberian-American designer behind the brand who was a recent winner of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.
4. super YAYA 100%
super Yaya 100% is an Abidjan-based streetwear label that has a cool take on expressing Afrofuturism through fashion. Along with the catchy screen print shirts, the brand tailors customizable, West Afircan-inspired outfits.
5. OkayAfrica Shop
Shameless plug time! Over at our shop, we recently dropped the FW17 edition of our AFRICAN AF collection, where we made cozy sweatshirt versions of our best-selling tees, along with the Fela Kuti capsule collection you should get into.
6. Riveriswild
Riveriswild is a lifestyle brand that acknowledges the chaos of life, respecting its unpredictability and honors our differences and connections along the way. The brand's F/W collection, A Marked Memory, was influenced by Wale Akinbiyi's (Riveriswild's creative director) fading memories of his formative years spent in Nigeria.
7. OHYESLORD
OHYESLORD is a Johannesburg-based streetwear brand that celebrates and is rooted in youthful, African free sprits. Founded by Hamilton Thindisa, the brand's name comes from the designer discovering his purpose. Learn more about the brand and where you can order here.
8. òL New York
òL New York is a forward-thinking brand that offers a range of clean looks that is malleable in any closet. òL stands for "outside lines," and the brand prides itself in its progressive and authentic designs for those who wish to look and feel good in what they wear.
9. WAFFLESNCREAM
WAFFLESNCREAM is Nigeria's first skateboard collective that also has a store that provides a fresh take on streetwear apparel. The community provides a rare space for young Nigerians to explore their creativity and to shape their own narrative.
10. DEAD.
DEAD. is a Pretoria-based lifestyle brand that's a culmination of the hyper-millennial generation. The brand produces well-made clothes with bright colors, unique prints and texture.
