Haute Couture in Paris 2026: Africa is Chic!

What’s so exciting about Imane Ayissi’s fashion shows—beyond the collections themselves—is the atmosphere: guests truly take in the dresses and the models; they applaud and exclaim, just as they did before the advent of social media.

While some might think Imane Ayissi is incredibly lucky to be showing in Paris, his personal story tells a different story. Born in Cameroon in 1968, he grew up in a turbulent environment. His father, Jean-Baptiste Ayissi—a former African boxing champion who later became a politician—was imprisoned when Imane was still just a child. His mother, Julienne—the first Miss Cameroon crowned after independence in 1960—worked as a flight attendant. “A natural beauty whose presence at Yaoundé Airport drew crowds,” he recalls. Of the ten children she gave birth to, only five survived. When she, in turn, was imprisoned for two and a half years, the siblings were left to fend for themselves.

“I sold peanuts with my sisters so I could buy notebooks,” says Imane Ayissi. Forced to work at a very young age, he had to leave school at the age of eleven. Dance then became both an escape and a means of survival. His older brother, Ayissi Le Duc—who would go on to become a renowned dancer and choreographer—founded a family troupe featuring Imane, his younger sister Chantal Ayissi (a singer and dancer), and several cousins. “It saved us,” he says. At age 17, he joined the National Ballet of Cameroon. European tours followed one after another, followed by an appearance with the Cameroonian national team at the 1990 World Cup, and then Yannick Noah’s Saga Africa tour in 1992. Gradually, another passion took hold: fashion.

In 2020, Imane Ayissi became the first fashion designer from sub-Saharan Africa to be invited to the official calendar of the Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion in Paris. This recognition was the result of sheer perseverance for this self-taught designer. “My first Paris fashion show was back in 1993. I’d made 120 polka-dot dresses!” he says with a laugh. In a small maid’s room on Rue de Cléry, he sewed at night because he worked as a model during the day. He had to distribute the invitations himself by slipping them into the mailboxes of his contacts. “Most of them didn’t even show up!” But it took more than that to dampen his hopes and stop him from believing that fashion was his destiny.

Last January, to present his Spring-Summer 2026 collection, he chose to reveal what goes on behind the scenes—or at least part of it. He showed what can only be seen backstage: the dressing process, choosing the right shoes for an outfit, the mishaps, the garment that won’t zip up but will go on the runway anyway. Featuring traditional African fabrics, raw cottons, woven textiles, Ghanaian kente cloth, and hand-painted silks reminiscent of Mark Rothko, the collection traces the path the mind takes when it creates.

Sitting in the front row, Maria Lourdes, one of his loyal clients, wore a bright orange shawl edged with spectacular raffia fringes from the Fall-Winter 2025–26 collection: “Imane Ayissi’s collections are so original! I’m half Cameroonian and half Greek, and I have a passion for raffia! As an interior designer, I use it a lot.”

While some of Imane’s designs are easily recognizable in the audience, others are more understated, like this coat made from fabric produced in Togo, worn by another client. “I’ve known Imane Ayissi for over twenty years; I’ve been following him since his early days,” she confides. “I was a young journalist back then and couldn’t afford to buy her clothes, but today I’m the vice president of a communications firm in Africa and can afford his pieces. I’m from the Congo—from Kinshasa—and I’m deeply connected to the African continent, but, like Imane, I’ve also lived elsewhere, and I love seeing that blend of couture precision and African influences in his collections. Imane has managed to preserve the colors and the joy of Africa. He showcases the work of African artisans. For example, the coat I’m wearing today was made from fabric woven in Africa. I buy Imane’s collections not only for personal taste but also with a political agenda in mind. In our culture, the Luba (a Bantu society in Central Africa primarily based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ed.), we use this material to make Kasai velvet—traditional raffia fabrics embroidered by the Kuba people. Imane, on the other hand, uses raffia in a modern way rather than to create tribal outfits.

You don’t look like you’re dressed up as Imane. People tell me I’m chic, but Africa is chic!”