Milan, 25 September 2026–Creativity is on! Within the on-going edition of Milan Fashion Week, they have just inaugurated Voices of Denim, as a collaboration between AFA-Afro Fashion Association, Levi’s and Camera della Moda, to name a few.
Open to public from 25 September until 2 October, at Casa Degli Artisti, in Milan, it displays the work of 30 creatives selected as examples of how denim is a living cultural material, one capable of carrying stories of movement, labor, identity, resistance and transformation across generations and communities.
The multi-discipline and multi-cultural exhibition also wants to hype the message how Levi’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, as the collaboration is the result of a year mentorship at Levi’s under the direction of Jordan Anderson, curator of the Voices of Denim exhibition, and Mathilde Vaucheret, VP Europe Marketing & BX at Levi’s, and Michelle Francine Ngonmo, Founder & CEO of AfroFashion Association.
Following a year-long journey of mentorship, research and creative production, the project first presented during Milan Fashion Week in February 2026 reaches now its final stage with an immersive exhibition. The project explores denim not simply as a material or garment, but as a living cultural language.
This collaboration reflects a shared desire to move beyond viewing representation as merely visibility. The project brought together emerging BIPOC talents from fashion design, photography, visual arts, cinema, styling, curating, sound and design, guiding them through a program structured across different phases–from an initial announcement and the activation of talents and mentors, through public positioning and media engagement, to the monitoring and planning of the production and exhibition, culminating in the opening of the exhibition to the public.
The creatives were given a selection of old Levi’s garments to reinterpret according to their own taste and sensitivity, vision, ability and culturale background.
“After almost a year of working with the creatives involved, we are proud to present, together with Levi’s, a project that demonstrates what culture can generate when it meets access, trust, and concrete opportunities,” said Michelle Francine Ngonmo, Founder & CEO, Afro Fashion Association.
“Voices of Denim amplifies the voices of these talents and, by making the experience freely accessible to the public, gives it back to the entire city,” she added.
“Reaching this stage of the project and finally being able to share the result with the public is a particularly meaningful moment for everyone involved in Voices of Denim,” commented Mathilde Vaucheret, VP Marketing & Brand Experience Europe, Levi’s.
“This program was created with the ambition of amplifying underrepresented creative voices. Seeing those ideas take shape and come to life through this exhibition is a powerful milestone and the culmination of a year-long project,” she continued.
Translating the whole amount of art expressions into an exhibition space resembling a work-in-progress space, was Jordan Anderson, curator of the exhibition, who has worked with the plurality of disciplines and identities involved without reducing them to a single narrative.
Afro Fashion Association is a non-profit organization founded in 2015, active between Italy and sub-Saharan Africa. Led by volunteers, it promotes fashion, art and culture as tools for intercultural exchange, empowerment and sustainable economic development.
Its mission is to nurture emerging African and BIPOC creatives through an international platform, create market opportunities for Black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and promote an African identity based on creativity, innovation and cultural richness.
The association works to strengthen local capacities in the arts and culture sector, supporting women’s empowerment and offering training and professional opportunities to students and emerging talents. In addition, it engages in advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, using art as a driver of social and economic growth.