Burkina Faso fashion designers: More to nation than conflict

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Vibrant African clothes, both traditional and contemporary, enlivened the catwalk in Burkina Faso’s fashion week. Designers say they are striving to make the West African country become known as an emerging fashion hub, to offset its reputation for its recent coup and ongoing conflict with Islamic extremists. The small West African nation hosted its third Ouaga Fashion Week — the first since the pandemic forced its delay. The colorful four-day show closed Sunday amid surging jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s killed thousands. Some 35 designers — chosen from about 200 applicants — from West Africa and Europe, showcased their clothes in the capital, Ouagadougou.