Thanks to Bottega Veneta, 'Air Afrique' Is Taking Off Once Again
Bottega Veneta isn't showing a new clothing collection during Men's Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024, but it is using its visibility to help launch Air Afrique. The magazine, conceived by a Parisian art collective, focuses on "Afro-diasporic art and conversation," Air Afrique says in a press release, and it takes its name from a now-defunct airline.
That Air Afrique was a pan-African airline that existed for over 60 years, co-owned by a host of then-newly-independent countries like Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Senegal, and Cameroon, to name a few.
Air Afrique, the airline, remains a neatly representative of Air Afrique's dream of pan-African unity. As such, the magazine will explore "the cultural and historical diversity of the African continent" in the spirit of Balafon, Air Afrique's original in-flight magazine.
Mixing archival reprints of original Balafon material with new material sourced from contemporary writers, Air Afrique is a tangible representation of past meeting present, real-world creativity meeting imagined utopia.
“We want to revive the African transcendence that Air Afrique represented,” Air Afrique creative director Lamine Diaoune said in a statement. “Our mission is to preserve this heritage, to put Air Afrique back in the cultural conversation, and to build on their example of cultural engagement.”
Bottega Veneta is boosting Air Afrique by supporting the magazine's launch, "tailoring" events, and using the strength of its own name to give Air Afrique maximum visibility.
Plus, Bottega Veneta is issuing a concise series of blankets made of archival Bottega fabrics: shearling, leather, and wool. These limited blankets, intended to coincide with Air Afrique's debut, were commissioned by creative director Matthieu Blazy from Franco-Sudanese designer, Abdel El Tayeb, a member of the Bottega Veneta studio and independent designer in his own right.
Bottega Veneta's passion for print is partially guided by its own history — Andy Warhol once created a Bottega Veneta ad for his Interview Magazine — and Matthieu Blazy's deep-seated adoration of the written word. Blazy's obsession runs so deep that he was inspired to devise a Bottega Veneta-ized version of The Strand's iconic shopper.
In 2022, Bottega Veneta became the sole advertiser for the relaunched BUTT magazine; the Air Afrique initiative is its second such endeavor.
“With our print partnerships, we recognize the craft, creativity, and quiet power of smaller-scale publications which give voice to specific communities,” said a Bottega Veneta spokesperson in a statement. “Each magazine exemplifies quality design, editorial rigor, and a clarity and originality of vision.”
