Mercedes-Benz Launches Accra Digital Fashion Week


Mercedes-Benz Partners With Designers Of Ghana’s Capital To Proudly Showcase Their Work

Mercedes-Benz is continuing to champion the global fashion community by furthering its relationship with African talent in Ghana, launching a Digital showcase of their work. In lieu of Accra Fashion Week, which has been postponed to 2021 due to the global pandemic, Mercedes-Benz has worked with five local creatives and their team to produce a photo shoot that transports the viewer to the vibrant streets of Accra. Five of the Ghanaian capital’s most promising talents showcased their latest collections in a series shot by photographer Carlos Idun-Tawiah.

Historically in Ghana, skills and lessons are transferred from generation to generation, laying fertile ground for collaboration between designers and other creatives of every age. Carlos Idun-Tawiah’s indelible documentary portraiture-style of fashion photography captured the work of Larry Jay, Steve French, Hazza, Atto Tetteh, and Chloe Asaam. Each designer owns their narrative, telling their story of how intergenerational collaboration has informed their creative practice.

“Aspirational design is at the heart of the Mercedes-Benz brand, and our commitment to supporting global talent who push creative conversation forward is more important than ever. The level of talent in Ghana is truly inspiring and we are excited to kick-start planning to re-launch Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Accra, when it is safe to do so.”

–Bettina Fetzer, Vice President Marketing Mercedes-Benz

Womenswear designer Chloe Asaam fuses Ghanaian symbolism with technology by incorporating QR codes into her garments, which tell their story. Enamored with matriarchal figures from the Ashanti region, she shot the collection on her aunts and grandmother. Meanwhile, unisex designer Larry Jay, who debuted his eponymous label in 2017 and found inspiration in everything from nature and African culture to the arts, looked to the 1970s generation – specifically, his parents who modeled his collection.

Menswear designer Atto Tetteh takes inspiration from his surroundings. He appeals to a younger audience by incorporating Africa into sophisticated and eclectic pieces that tell the African story. Hassan Alfaziz Iddrisu of Hazza, who creates using traditionally formal production methods, portrayed his own heritage and African culture in contemporary pieces photographed on Accra’s youth scene. Finally, Steve French, who honors traditions to create new artistic expressions by taking cues from the female form and abstract patterns, wove together elements from the past, present, and future to reflect multigenerational perspectives. The collection presented in this editorial was created in partnership with the brand ‘for the ancestors’.

The move by Mercedes-Benz reflects both a commitment to the program but more importantly to people. People who through the advent of digital may in fact generate more awareness for their creations via a photographic showcase than from the runway, bucking the trend of the major fashion weeks shows.