Forget the finished frocks for a minute – Alt.FFF wants the world to look at what comes BEFORE the clothes!
Accra is getting ready for a major fashion-industry gathering with the launch of the Alternative Fashion Fabric Fair, or Alt.FFF, a Pan-African platform designed to put the materials, makers and businesses behind fashion firmly in the spotlight.
Taking place on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at the Palms Convention Centre, La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, the fair is flipping the traditional fashion conversation on its head by starting with the very things that make fashion possible — fibres, fabrics, dyes, leather, trims and craftsmanship.
And there is plenty to talk about!
From Ghanaian Kente and Nigerian Adire to Uganda’s raw cotton, Ethiopian leather, Malian dyes and Senegalese cowries, Alt.FFF is bringing Africa’s rich material culture into one space. The event is designed to connect producers, weavers, dyers, artisans, manufacturers, designers, buyers and other players across the fashion and textile value chain.
The idea is simple but powerful — before there is a dress, there is fabric; before there is fabric, there are fibres, skills, people and production.
Alt.FFF wants that often-overlooked side of fashion to receive the attention it deserves, while creating opportunities for trade, collaboration, innovation and greater visibility for African-made materials.
FASHION STARTS BEFORE THE RUNWAY!
For fashion lovers, the fair promises to change the way they look at the clothes hanging in their wardrobes.
The weave of a fabric, the story behind a dye, the hands that created it, the origin of a fibre or the craftsmanship behind a piece of leather can all be part of the fashion story — long before a designer cuts, stitches and sends the finished creation down a runway.
The initiative is being led by Fashion Forum Africa, with Makeba Boateng, founder of Fashion Forum Africa and lead curator of Alt.FFF, championing greater visibility for the producers and businesses powering Africa’s fashion-materials ecosystem. The fair has also attracted support from industry and cultural organisations including the Association of Ghana Industries, Institute of Textiles & Fashion Professionals Ghana, Ghana Culture Forum and National Commission on Culture.
And the conversation has already started.
Ahead of the fair, Fashion Forum Africa and the Association of Ghana Industries held a workshop focused on ownership, copyright and trade, bringing together stakeholders from Ghana’s fashion, textile, creative and manufacturing sectors to discuss how African creators and producers can better protect and benefit from the value they create.
With its bold focus on the raw materials, craftsmanship and people behind African fashion, Alt.FFF is positioning itself as more than another fashion event.
It is a reminder that Africa’s fashion story does not begin on the runway — it begins with the material in our hands.
Source: fashionghana.com
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