A Theoretical Framework for Understanding African Fashion as a Creative Arts System

African fashion, as a creative system encompassing cloth production, design innovation, cultural communication, identity expression, and commercial value creation, has been analysed primarily through cultural studies, anthropology, and fashion management, but a comprehensive theoretical framework positioning it as a creative arts system with its own aesthetic logic remains to be constructed. This study developed an original theoretical framework for understanding African fashion as a creative arts system, with primary reference to the Nigerian fashion ecosystem. A theory-building methodology combining systematic review of African fashion scholarship from 2018 to 2024, primary research through interviews with 35 Nigerian fashion designers, 10 textile producers, and 8 fashion critics, and comparative analysis with Western fashion system theories was employed. The original African Fashion Creative Arts System Framework proposes that African fashion constitutes a distinct creative arts system characterised by five defining features: cloth-as-canvas aesthetics, social occasion aesthetic logic, community aesthetic validation, creative bricolage tradition, and cosmological colour grammar. Each feature is distinct from conventions in Western fashion theory and requires its own analytical vocabulary. Expert review by 16 fashion scholars and creative arts specialists confirmed the framework's significant original theoretical contribution to global fashion studies. The study recommends the framework as the foundation for a new African Fashion Studies academic specialisation at Nigerian universities.

Keywords: African fashion, creative arts system, fashion theory, Nigerian fashion, original framework