The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals.
Koya Nyangi once told Colorado Public Radio that fashion has been with her since the womb. So after the native of Nairobi, Kenya, moved to Denver in 2018, she naturally set off for the city’s boutiques to understand what her new neighbors wear. The answer: nothing African.
She discovered why two years later. Before starting Let Me Show You Different, which helps Africa-based brands reach U.S. markets, Nyangi surveyed shoppers at FlatIron Crossing mall in Broomfield to gain insight about locals’ perceptions of African style. Overwhelmingly, respondents cited vibrant, colorful tribal prints. “Yes,” Nyangi says, “and also there’s more.”
To show Denverites the breadth of the continent, in 2023 Nyangi founded the African Creators Festival, a weekendlong event that showcases the work of African artists—in fashion, fine art, music, and food. This year’s two-day festival (September 13 and 14; $250; location TBD) will feature fashion by South African, Zimbabwean, and Kenyan designers and highlight creatives who were born in Africa but currently live in the United States. That includes locals Althea Brown, a cookbook author who will collaborate with chefs from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo to create a brunch menu on Sunday, and Yonnas, a pop musician who will perform later that day.
All Nyangi asks is for Denverites to be curious. (“Curiosity” is the theme of this year’s show.) That leads to interest, which leads to change. Nyangi found this out for herself recently when she entered a shop on Larimer Square and saw a piece from a Niger brand already on the shelf. “There was a whole different world,” Nyangi says. “What was missing was the education.”
Find tickets for the African Creators Festival online starting at $125 here.
