Bottega Veneta has partnered with the Paris-based collective Air Afrique for the launch of their eponymous magazine. Taking its name from the pan-African airline – co-owned by 11 Sub-Saharan African countries and operational between 1961 and 2002 – Air Afrique is creating a cultural platform that celebrates the valorisation of African historical heritage and stimulates conversations on current Afro-diasporic narratives. “We really wanted to highlight how emerging Black francophone artists engage with archives and neglected African knowledge, and by doing so, give perspective and insight on both local and global conversation around post-colonial identity,” asserts editor-in-chief Amandine Nana.

When creating the magazine’s distinct and sharp aesthetic, the Air Afrique team, which also includes Lamine Diaoune, Djiby Kebe and Jeremy Konko, was deeply inspired by iconic cultural post-colonial publications. Chief among them is Balafon, Air Afrique’s in-flight magazine with its powerful slogan: For a better knowledge of Black Africa. “We are commited to producing a beautiful object with visual appeal connecting aesthetic and ethical concern,” Nana says. “Air Afrique is for everyone interested in historical and contemporary pan-African cultural, artistic and political conversations while targeting a trans-generational afro-descent audience, especially in our French/francophone context, where these people don’t feel connected anymore to magazine culture.”

As such, each issue will be a mix of archival material from the airline’s cultural patronage and contributions from new French, French-Caribbean and African artists and writers. The cover story for the inaugural issue features Tiakola, a young French Congolese musician who is finding success with what he calls “mélo” – his very melodic, hybrid rap sound. “We really wanted to highlight his connection to Congolese music. In the accompanying written piece, cultural critic Noémie Taty pays tribute to 1960s and 1970s Congolese rumba music orchestras such as the African Jazz or the OK Jazz.” Other editorials take readers on a journey through Abidjan, Dakar, Seine-Saint Denis and Martinique.

Fittingly, the ethos which lies at the heart Air Afrique magazine chimes with Bottega Veneta’s distinct approach to print media partnerships through a vested interest in the quiet power of small-scale publications that cater to specific communities, and its impactful support of new and revived publications. Commenting on the partnership, Nana acknowledges that “It was pertinent for Air Afrique to work with a brand with previous collaborations showing that they are truly engaged in supporting independent magazines that bring underrepresented perspectives into the contemporary media environment.”

Bottega Veneta is the sole advertiser in the magazine and has created a series of dedicated campaign images rooted in the magazine’s cultural purpose and the aesthetics of the fashion house. Shot by Senegal photographer Malick Bodian and featuring models Dara Gueye and Rhenny Alade, the pair wear handmade blankets by Sudanese designer Abdel El Tayeb, who works in the brand’s atelier and also runs his own label. “My brand El Tayeb Nation resonates with the values of Air Afrique in that it creates a space for the African diaspora to express their multicultural identity by combining Arabic-Sudanese culture with the western fashion heritage,” El Tayeb explains.

Only 10 blanket have been produced and each one has been crafted by Bottega Veneta artisans from the finest wool, silver leather and shearling sourced from the archives. El Tayeb took inspiration from the vibrant patterns of the traditional Toub dresses his mother wore in Sudan as well as Sun Ra’s Afrofuturist aesthetics. “The blankets are a celebration of the way the Afro diaspora combine their ancestral heritage with their personal and localised experiences gathered along their nomadic life,” El Tayeb adds.