WHY THIS, WHY NOW
Shabell is building ÀLKÉ — arguably the most structurally ambitious cultural institution launched on the continent in 2025–26. Not a seasonal showcase but a permanent framework across four pillars (Art, Legacy, Knowledge, Enterprise), with an Endowment for durable funding beyond grant cycles and a venture-studio framework linking creatives to capital. After three decades taking 90+ African fashion brands into Western markets, she's now building the infrastructure on the African side. The inaugural ÀLKÉ Ball is set for Cape Town, rotating to Lagos, Nairobi, Dakar, Addis, Accra and Cairo.
THE QUESTIONS WE’D PUT
- 01
ÀLKÉ positions itself as an institution, not a festival or agency. What does institutional permanence require in the African creative context that a fashion week or grant programme structurally cannot deliver?
- 02
Most African fashion schools still teach clothing history through a Western lens. How does ÀLKÉ's education pillar practically intervene in a curriculum landscape that entrenched?
- 03
The ÀLKÉ Endowment is permanent capital. Who are the investors, and how do you convince short-horizon capital to fund intergenerational institutional work?
- 04
After three decades taking African brands into Western markets, at what point did you conclude the answer was building infrastructure on the African side rather than negotiating entry on the Western one?
- 05
Africa captures only a small fraction of the value tied to its creativity. Which single institution-building intervention, adequately resourced, moves that needle fastest — and why?
A conversation we’re pursuing — the brief and questions, openly. Sourced, never fabricated.