AKIRE IN DUBAI 2025
The hands behind the movement.
In 2025, Akire travelled to Dubai for its first runway presentation and international pop-up.
Held at the Mandarin Oriental and organised by AFRA World and Lulubell Group, the event brought together designers from Africa, the Caribbean and India, alongside designers based in Dubai.
For Akire, it was an opportunity to see familiar work differently.
Forms That Hold the Eye
Akire’s sculpted leather collections invite stillness. They ask for time: to study a contour, consider a form, and recognise the handwork held within each object.
Presented as an installation, every piece carried its own presence.
On the runway, that presence changed. Movement gave the leather and denim a new language, allowing each form to enter conversation with the person carrying it.
We presented Amuka, Akiduwang, Akiduon, Ashe and Aaku, alongside our upcycled denim.
“I have often been drawn to presenting the leather collections as an installation, giving each sculptural form space to hold the eye.”
The runway introduced another way of seeing. The pieces were no longer only objects to observe; they became companions in motion, revealing how they live within a life.
Akire on the Runway
The runway introduced another way of seeing.
Movement brought leather and denim into conversation with the person wearing them, revealing their presence within a life.
As the collections moved before the audience on the runway , the big screen behind showed Kenyan models with Akire among Kenya’s landscapes, nature and surroundings.
Together, the two offered a fuller encounter with the work: the pieces in motion, and a glimpse of the world they come from.
Nature, landscape and the collection shared the frame. It was a moment to appreciate how our surroundings shape our understanding of beauty, and how that understanding finds expression through Akire.
An Introduction in Both Directions
At the pop-up, the Dubai clientele gravitated towards Akiduon, our elephant form, and Akiduwang, the small gourd.
Watching these encounters was its own discovery: forms familiar to us were finding meaning with people meeting them for the first time.
It felt like an introduction in both directions.
Dubai was encountering Akire, and we were beginning to see where else the work could belong.
New Conversations, New Possibilities
The conversations in Dubai brought new ideas, including a suggestion to explore a horse-inspired form.
That possibility remains open to a custom commission.
Closer to home, our animal journey continues. Three more animals from Kenya are still waiting to be explored.
Carrying the Story Forward
Dubai marked a first for Akire, and opened a question that continues to shape how we present the work:
How does an object’s story unfold when someone makes it their own?
I returned with a stronger conviction in the value of the craftsmanship and a clearer understanding of how to tell its story.
Our cultural references carry depth when we know them, own them, and give them room to be understood.
On that runway, Akire travelled with its surroundings.
Kenya was part of the encounter.
#AkireinDubai
