Imane Ayissi founded his eponymous label in Paris in 2004. He is known for his glamourous collections which mix beautiful textiles from the continent with classic French couture techniques and silhouettes. Ayissi was born in Cameroon in 1969 to champion boxer Jean-Baptiste Ayissi Ntsama and Julienne Honorine Eyenga Ayissi, the first Miss Cameroon.

This dress comes from Ayissi’s Couture Spring/Summer 2020 collection, Akouma. Translating to ‘wealth’ in Ewondo, Ayissi used this collection to explore how ideas of wealth, luxury and preciousness can be communicated through clothing, investigating how the value of different materials changes across the world. Obom, Cameroonian bark cloth, was a key feature of the collection: ‘Africa is full of these textiles, little considered in the world today, but which are precious by the tradition in which they are part.’ The dress has a classic A-line silhouette with a short bodice and voluminous skirt. It is made from a white silk and hemp blend and the bodice is embellished with applique obom flowers. The elegant dress is typical of Ayissi’s design aesthetic and has become one of his most notable designs, featuring as the cover image in the Vogue 2020 feature on him (image below) and worn by Didi Olomide on the cover of Moyi Magazine in December 2020.