NIAMEY — Fashion designer Alphadi, who comes from Niger and is one of Africa's most renowned stylists, on Friday said that the African fashion festival FIMA will go on, a day after a fire swept his workshops.
"The FIMA will indeed take place on the planned dates, that's to say November 23 to 27 in Niamey," Alphadi told AFP, adding that "what happened has nothing to do with the holding of the FIMA."
The festival is "a key event for Niger and it will be bigger than ever," added the designer, whose full name is Seidnaly Sidahmed Alphadi."We are going to open Niger to Europeans and show the world that Niger is a safe country," he vowed, referring to a threat to the vast northwest African nation by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which has kidnapped Westerners in Niger's desert regions.

 Maud Villaret is the designer of Toubab Paris which  is a jewelry brand that uses African  fabrics to create her work. Her inspiration comes from her  trips to  Africa where she recovers and transforms materials and objects in order to create unique pieces or limited series.All of her pieces are handmade , part in France  and another part directly in Africa by local craftsmen.