Market Watch2:10 PM GMT+1
Cotton prices just spiked. Here’s who pays
From the gin to the atelier, the increase lands unevenly.
By Tola Adeyemi
Business
The money, markets and strategy behind the continent’s fashion industry.
BusinessAug 13
The concept store betting big on made-in-Nairobi
A retail experiment asks whether local labels can carry a luxury floor alone.
By Sefi Bello
BusinessAug 12
Inside the factory floor powering a denim boom
Orders are up, margins are thin, and the machines run two shifts. Can the model scale without breaking?
By Kemi Eze
Market WatchAug 10
Why every buyer in Paris is calling Accra
The wholesale order books tell a story the runways only hinted at.
By Amara Okafor
BusinessAug 8
The luxury leather trade finds its margin in Marrakech
Small workshops, full-grain hides, and a price point Europe can’t match.
By Yusuf Diallo
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ExplainerAug 6
How to build a fashion brand when the fabric costs more than the rent
Founders on deposits, dye lots, and the cash-flow math nobody teaches.
By Chidera Nwosu
BusinessAug 4
The report: African retail’s $12 billion question
Our new research maps where the continent’s fashion spending actually goes — and where it could.
By Front Row Staff
Market WatchAug 1
Investors are circling Lagos ateliers. Should designers take the money?
Term sheets are arriving faster than the collections. Founders weigh control against growth.
By Zanele Dube
BusinessJul 29
The quiet empire of Lagos tailoring
No storefronts, no ads — and a client book that would make a maison jealous.
By Amara Okafor
Market WatchJul 26
What a weaker naira means for the spring order book
Buyers want prices held. Mills want invoices in dollars. Something has to give.
By Tola Adeyemi
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Craft & HeritageJul 22
The beadwork ateliers scaling a craft without breaking it
Growing from six artisans to sixty, one strand at a time.
By Nadia Mensah
BusinessJul 18
The real cost of a lookbook, itemized
Studio, crew, retouching, returns: what a single shoot actually does to a young label’s budget.
By Sefi Bello
