Fashion & Style
Ghana’s Kantamanto Market Fights to Rebuild After Fire as Fast-Fashion Waste Piles Up
Six weeks after a massive fire tore through Accra’s sprawling Kantamanto Market — one of the world’s largest hubs for secondhand clothing — thousands of traders are still struggling to get back on their feet.
The blaze, which killed two people and destroyed an estimated two-thirds of the market, wiped out the livelihoods of tens of thousands within hours.
This story is based on reporting by The Guardian.
Once packed with tightly lined stalls selling “obroni wawu” — “dead white person’s clothes,” as secondhand garments are known locally — Kantamanto now hums with the noise of reconstruction.
Aluminum roofs are back up, skeletal wooden structures are rising, but many vendors’ spaces remain empty, generating little to no income in a market that previously supported an estimated 30,000 workers.
For traders like Richard Kwaku Kwakye, who lost more than 100,000 cedis’ worth of clothing, rebuilding has been overwhelming.
“I couldn’t retrieve a pin,” he told The Guardian, describing how the fire reduced his inventory to ashes.

With his stall still unfinished, he has no place to store goods — and no income for his family.
The market’s crisis exposes a larger global problem: the relentless surge of fast-fashion waste. Ghana imported $121 million worth of used clothing in 2023 alone, much of it low-quality, discarded fashion from the UK, China, and the US. According to research cited by The Guardian, Kantamanto sends 26.5 tonnes of unsellable clothing to dumps every week. Some ends up in informal landfills around Accra before being washed out to sea, later returning as soggy heaps on city beaches.
The ecosystem around Kantamanto — from tailors to food sellers to kayayei porters — has also been hit hard. Many, like 18-year-old porter Aisha Mohammed, have seen their daily income plunge from about 50 cedis to as little as 10. Others have left the city entirely, unable to start over.
Relief efforts are underway. Local leaders and nonprofits, including the Or Foundation, are raising funds to support affected traders and plan long-term upgrades to prevent future disasters. But business remains painfully slow, and many vendors can’t afford to import new bales of clothing while the market rebuilds.
Despite the hardship, trucks continue to unload hundreds of bales of secondhand garments each week — a sign that Kantamanto’s future still hinges on the world’s fashion waste.
Fashion & Style
Tucked or Untucked? The Design Details That Make the Decision Easy
The difference between looking effortlessly polished and unintentionally underdressed can come down to one small detail: whether your shirt should be tucked in.
A short style lesson making the rounds online has reignited a timeless menswear conversation by breaking the decision into a few easy rules.
Rather than treating tucking in a shirt as a matter of personal preference, it argues that the shirt itself often tells you exactly how it should be worn.
The advice is refreshingly straightforward. Shirts with soft collars are generally designed to be worn untucked, creating a relaxed, casual silhouette.
Those with stiff collars, on the other hand, are better suited to a tucked-in look that complements tailoring and formal dressing. The same thinking extends to other design details.
A shirt with a chest pocket leans casual and works naturally outside the trousers, while one without a pocket usually carries a cleaner, dressier appearance that benefits from being tucked in.
Perhaps the most useful distinction is hidden where few people think to look: the hem. A curved hem is traditionally intended to stay tucked during movement, but in modern menswear it is also a strong indicator of a shirt designed with a more relaxed drape when worn untucked if the cut allows.
By contrast, a straight hem—often found on overshirts, camp shirts, and contemporary casual styles—is intentionally finished to sit neatly outside the waistband, though dress shirts with pronounced curved hems remain best tucked. The broader point is that construction matters more than habit.
These small design cues have become increasingly relevant as dress codes continue to blur. Across Ghana’s growing fashion scene, where traditional tailoring sits comfortably alongside global streetwear and smart casual dressing, understanding garment construction helps men dress with greater confidence rather than simply following trends.
Style has always been about reading the details. Knowing what your collar, pocket, and hem are communicating turns an ordinary shirt into a deliberate fashion statement—proof that good dressing often begins with paying attention to the clothes themselves.
Fashion & Style
How Cowry Shells Became the Crown Jewel of Made by Horllard’s Bridal Runway
There are bridal collections, and then there are moments that redefine how the world sees African luxury.
Made by Horllard achieved exactly that with its Brides of Africa collection, transforming the runway at Afro Fashion Show UK into a celebration of heritage, craftsmanship and regal elegance.
Rather than following familiar Western bridal traditions, the Nigerian luxury fashion house looked inward, drawing inspiration from symbols that have carried meaning across generations.
The collection’s defining feature is the cowry shell, an object once used as currency across parts of Africa and long associated with prosperity, femininity and royal status. Instead of treating the shells as decorative accents, Made by Horllard integrated them into the very architecture of each design.
Gowns shimmered with painstaking hand-applied detailing, sculptural capes framed the body like ceremonial robes, and dramatic silhouettes turned every model into the image of an African queen.
The collection also reflects a growing movement across the continent’s fashion industry: the desire to tell African stories through luxury design rather than borrowing narratives from elsewhere.
From the label’s studios in Abuja, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom, Made by Horllard has built its reputation on bespoke bridalwear that blends couture techniques with cultural symbolism.
Cowhide textures, structured tailoring and handcrafted embellishments have become signatures of a brand determined to place African artistry at the centre of global fashion conversations.
That approach resonates far beyond the runway. Today’s brides are increasingly seeking garments that express identity as much as beauty, and designers across Africa are responding with collections rooted in history while embracing contemporary sophistication.
Brides of Africa captures that shift perfectly, proving that bridal couture can honour ancestral traditions without sacrificing modern glamour.
As African fashion continues to command international attention, Made by Horllard’s latest showcase stands as a reminder that the continent’s greatest luxury may not be found in imported trends, but in centuries-old symbols reimagined by designers bold enough to let culture lead the design process.
Fashion & Style
Valentina Castro Is Redefining Global Beauty One Runway at a Time
The fashion industry is always searching for its next breakout star, but few careers have accelerated as quickly as Valentina Castro’s.
In just a few seasons, the Colombian model has gone from being discovered on Instagram to becoming the first Colombian ever to walk the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, a milestone that has cemented her place among fashion’s most sought-after faces.

Born in Tumaco on Colombia’s Pacific coast, Castro carries more than striking looks onto the runway.
She represents a city with deep Afro-Colombian roots, bringing greater visibility to a community that has historically been underrepresented in luxury fashion. Every appearance is a reminder that the industry’s definition of beauty continues to evolve, embracing broader stories of heritage and identity.

Her rise began with a chance discovery on social media before she secured an exclusive debut with Louis Vuitton—a coveted achievement for any emerging model. From there, the momentum was unstoppable.
Luxury houses including Chanel, Dior, Versace, Valentino, Fendi, Elie Saab and Schiaparelli, quickly added Castro to their runway line-ups, recognising a model whose confident walk and refined elegance complement both classic couture and contemporary fashion.

What distinguishes Castro is not simply the list of prestigious brands on her résumé but the quiet confidence she projects.

Whether dressed in sculptural haute couture or appearing in minimalist beauty campaigns, she allows the clothing to speak while bringing an unmistakable presence of her own.
Her luminous complexion, expressive features, and poised runway stride have made her a favourite among designers seeking authenticity as much as glamour.
For audiences across Africa and the global diaspora, Castro’s success carries added significance. Her achievements reflect a growing appreciation for Afro-descendant beauty in international fashion, creating new opportunities for aspiring models from communities that have often remained on the industry’s margins.

As fashion continues to become more globally representative, Valentina Castro’s journey stands as more than a personal success story. It signals an industry slowly expanding its vision of beauty—one runway at a time.
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