Bottega Veneta has been pushing for the revival of print and zine culture, ever since its first partnership with BUTT last year and more recently the release of its Kate Moss fanzine. Now the Italian house is partnering with Air Afrique, a publication that centres around conversations between and creativity from the Afro-diaspora.
The magazine is led by a young creative collective based in Paris who were inspired by vintage pan-African magazines, and found the name of their own publication from an airline company working between 1961 and 2002, owned by several West African countries. Founder and creative director of the collective Lamine Diaoune stated “We want to revive the African transcendence that Air Afrique represented”.
Published in both English and French, Air Afrique merges archival material from the actual discontinued airline, and its in-flight magazine Balafon, and adds a modern take on the African diasporic theme with cultural contributions from French, French-Caribbean and African writers and artists.
Bottega Veneta is using its platform to support the launch of Air Afrique and connect to its community, as well as hosting events, including the launch party taking place at the Centre Pompidou on June 23. In line with the launch, Bottega Veneta is also releasing some limited-edition blankets by one of its own studio designers, Abdel El Tayed, commissioned by Matthieu Blazy himself.
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