Back on the continent for Hub of Africa Fashion Week, Korie Minors, a Bermudian, was thrilled by the crowd’s reception of Alexander II Akande’s designs. Interest had likely grown following the attention the brand received from Vogue.com. After its debut at the event last year, the online edition of the renowned fashion and lifestyle magazine featured Alexander II Akande as one of ten standout designers.

“People were interested in seeing what we would do for this coming year,” said Korie, who studied with Alexander Akande at university. “I know people were asking for us to come back and they really enjoyed it. After the show people came backstage and they were super excited for the [designs] that we put out.”

According to his bio, the Nigerian/Cameroonian designer is a “multi-hyphenate creative” who was raised in Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, France and England.

“This wealth of cultural experience is vividly expressed in his work,” the bio states.

The brand Alexander II Akande started with T-shirts, but has since evolved into “a fusion of clothing and jewellery, influenced by all the elements of the African continent”, as well as the designer's global upbringing.

The collection at Hub of Africa Fashion Week 2025 was inspired by “a fictional private school in the designer's home city of Lagos, Nigeria” and consisted of “signature handmade pieces” including blazers, shirts, slacks, wrapped pants and skirts crafted from deadstock and locally woven fabrics to minimise environmental impact.

The accompanying jewellery was handmade in Cameroon by a fourth-generation bronzesmith.

“People said that we were one of the best in the show,” Korie said. “That's a really good thing to hear. It gives us energy to keep pushing for the rest of the year, and then next year as well.”

Alexander II Akande’s signature pieces are produced in limited runs with variations in colour and subtle differences in each. However, the team is working towards offering ready-to-wear items, possibly as early as this year.

“The pieces might [feature a distinctive] button or zipper shape. You try to keep it exclusive that way,” Korie said. “I tip my hat to my partner, who is super creative. We've been designing since university, and he is the lead designer in the brand; the brand is named after him.

“I'm more on the support end, and that's part of the creative direction. I give kudos to him for being able to come up with the initial concepts, and then we flesh them out and put them together for the final pieces.”

Korie, an international DJ, collaborated with Skriim Music, a Cameroonian producer, on the runway music.

“My performance is behind the scenes. So what I do is, I look at the pieces and the concepts that we come up with, and decide on how we want to showcase it and then I create the music based on that,” he said, explaining how his aim, on every occasion, is to take people on a journey.

Last year he chose music that fell in with the theme of Africa’s rainy and dry seasons. This year, with a focus on private school, he pulled in Amapiano, a form of South African house music, and music similar to hip hop, to give the designs “a more modern, upbeat feel” and to showcase their appeal to young people also.

“So it’s trendy, it's fun, it's funky, but still keeping in the parameters of there being a level of sophistication and class.”

While the music flow may have seemed effortless to the audience, pulling it all together was far more complex than it likely appeared.

“This year we were collaborating with a Cameroonian artist producer, but unfortunately he wasn't able to finish the part of the track.

“So in the lead-in to the show, while I was in Addis [Ababa], I had to sort of rework the track. Especially after we did the rehearsal, we realised that the track was too long and we had to shorten it, and everything was in real time. I was tweaking the record so that it could run smoothly on the runway,” Korie said.

“So that was an interesting experience to be able to manage and navigate through ― trying to make sure the track fits within the time frame and then also the feel that we want.”

• Learn more about Hub of Africa Fashion Week at hafwaddis.com/. For more on Alexander II Akande visitalexanderakande.com/