Sunny Dolat: The fashion thinker changing how the world sees African style

In our sixth episode of The African Imaginary Podcast, guest Sunny Dolat and host Khangi Khoza talk about fashion, beauty, and why ‘a dress is never just a dress’ on the African continent. Sunny Dolat is one of Africa's leading fashion thinkers, working as a curator, stylist, creative director and production designer. Since co-founding Nairobi's NEST collective and publishing the pivotal book Not African Enough, he has produced exhibitions, films and performances worldwide. His documentary project Stories of Our Lives was internationally acclaimed for archiving Kenya's queer voices — despite being banned at home. He helped shape the V&A's landmark show Africa Fashion, and joined The Business of Fashion 500, Class of '23. So how does one of Africa's most compelling creative minds think about beauty, identity, and dress? Broadly, for a start. Sunny says, 'Everything I do is to expand our understanding of beauty and design, so people look further and harder to see the whole of the continent, not just the usual three or four places,' he says. * Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:27 Sunny plays Keep or Toss 13:00 The meaning of "Sunny Dolat" 13:35 Maasai origins, naming system and infant mortality 16:05 Raised by four aunts and a grandmother 23:14 What was celebrated, what was punished 24:49 Sunny’s first enemy 27:56 Today's many titles - Jim Chuchu and the entry into styling 31:09 Founding the Nest Collective 35:23 “Stories of Our Lives” - archiving queer Kenyan lives 41:33 Still banned 14 years on - what bans actually do 43:44 State of Fashion and decentralising the Biennale 45:39 A career of side quests 48:56 Icons: Christine Checinska and Koyo Kouoh 50:30 Beauty as sacred 54:10 "In Their Finest Robes" 1:00:11 Waste colonialism: "Return to Sender" 1:05:59 Africa's lived sustainability 1:11:05 Favourite African designers, IAMISIGO, Katush and more 1:12:27 East African minimalism and the settler-colonial legacy 1:18:07 Best style by city 1:21:22 Maasai dress and the flattening of Kenyan identity 1:25:27 The future of African fashion 1:27:54 Outro * Curator & Producer: Georgia Black Host: Khangi Khoza Writer & Researcher: Lindy Cohen Editor: Chadlee Skrikker Sound & Music Editor: Michael Wilson-Trollip Videographer: Nicholas James Faure Music: Jam Now, Simmer Down by Blinky Bill & Ossie