Montreal African Fashion Week runs Aug. 22-25

Eloli means “it’s beautiful” in Bafaw, a language spoken in Cameroon.

Eloli is an award-winning luxury African fashion brand from Cameroon — with bright colors and bold patterns — being showcased at African Fashion Week, happening Aug. 22-25.

“It’s African fashion week but it’s for everybody,” said Gilles Wouanko, the founder of Montreal African Fashion Week.

“It’s not just for African and it’s not just African print as the design.

“I think sometimes people think it’s only going to be traditional wear.”

Wouanko says that’s not really the concept. “The concept is to show African or Black creators.

“It’s to show what did they create, what are their visions.

“Some are traditionally inspired, which is great because it has meaning to it, but also a lot in diverse environments.

“Some are born in Montreal.

“How do they view fashion?

“How is the upbringing or background influenced the view as artists?”

Wouanko actually started African Fashion Week in Edmonton when he moved there in 2011.

“When I came back in Montreal in 2018, there was no fashion week, so I decided to continue it here,” he said.

The beautiful items are on display at pop-up shop Pagne at home in the Old Port.

Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh co-founded Eloli along with her sisters in 2012. “When I think back to 2011, 2012, when we launched, I don’t think we imagined that we’re actually creating like a business, so we just started,” she said.

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“And so it was a lot of experimentation, it was having lots of fun with it.

“I really think in through, what do I want to wear?

“What do people around me want to wear?

“Like if I think about the Eloli man or the Eloli woman, who are they?

“So I imagine this person who’s living this really vibrant life, you love to travel, you love connecting with music, with art, you’re living in a loft somewhere in New York City, right?

“You are really having the time of your life and was designing for that man and that woman.

“And really, I think what we’ve seen over time is that Eloli, which means ‘it’s beautiful,’ appeals to that woman and that man, but also appeals to my mom and her friends and people who are younger and older.

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“And so while we designed for this particular person, over time we’ve learned that Eloli really appeals to a wider range of people and that really brings us a lot of joy as we continue to create.”

Wouanko says: “I think I remember making actually clothes when I was like five years old because my mom used to sew when we have a sewing machine at home.

“So I remember playing with fabric, the rest of fabric and making clothes for my sister dolls and stuff like that.

“Like this is from Senegal.

“It’s just this t-shirt is from Benin.

“So it’s really just to show what is the African fashion look like today.

“The challenge will be making people understanding that it’s for everyone.

“It’s not just for African, we want everybody to come and see how the African creative are today.

“Mostly the one who live, who are born in Montreal.”

Ndumbe-Eyoh says: “My mom is a lawyer, my dad is a professor, but as kids, my mom was also very entrepreneurial.

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“So she had a fashion brand actually, which was like urban African fashion.

“So we grew up with fashion, with art, with literature, theater, at home, the machines.

“I think that’s like we grew up with that as just part of our lives.

“And so as sisters, given that we had that shared interest, over time it just made sense instead of having say three fashion brands, let’s do one thing together, which has been really incredible because I get to work with my sisters really every day on something which we all care about.”