Paris, Jan 19 (AFP/APP) :His father was undefeated boxing champion of Africa, now Imane Ayissi is making history himself by becoming the first sub-Saharan designer to show in the elite Paris haute couture week. Not only is he joining fashion’s creme de la creme, the Cameroonian couturier is shaking up the stereotype of what “African materials” are by refusing to use wax prints which he dismisses as “colonial”. Highly colourful wax cotton prints flooded West Africa after Dutch mills began turning out millions of rolls of the material with patterns borrowed from Indonesian batik in the 19th century. “Still when we talk about African fashion it’s always wax, which is a real pity, because its killing our own African heritage,” Ayissi told AFP. “We only started wearing wax during the colonial era. Africa has more to show for itself than that — and the whole world needs to know that,” he insisted. The 51-year-old former dancer dreams of “opening up a new path for Africa” in an “alternative way of doing luxury fashion”. With his show called “Akouma” or “wealth”, Ayissi has tried to create a debut collection that nods both to the depth of indigenous African know-how and the … Continue reading Designer Ayissi is first black African at fashion’s top table