Bal d'Afrique Magazine

BYREDO MAGAZINE
ISSUE 1: BAL D’AFRIQUE

Byredo dedicated 2023 to a celebration of Bal d’Afrique, one of its original (and still most popular) fragrances. Drawing upon the place that inspired it, this celebration was a multimedia exploration of the dynamic creativity of Africa and the African diaspora, and included projects and special events such as Dozie Kanu’s “Bal d’Afrique” installation at Salone del Mobile, Gabriel Moses’ poetic short film “La Vie en Rose,” a video profile of South African surfer Mikey February, and a gourmet dinner during London Frieze prepared by Rwanda-based chef Dieuveil Malonga.

The debut issue of BYREDO MAGAZINE continues the celebration in print form, with features ranging from a beauty editorial by Tyler Mitchell reflecting on Black hair styling, to interviews with South African pop star Nakhane and Lagos-based YouTube diarist Korty E.O., to a tour of Ghana’s bustling painting scene led by local critic Gameli Hamelo.

“It’s a tribute to Africa today,” says Ben Gorham, Founder & Creative Director of Byredo. “It would be impossible to capture the complete expanse of contemporary African and diasporic creativity; this magazine is a snapshot of a moment, and like any snapshot, it’s subjective, and leaves far more out-of-frame than it shows.”

Available in select stores*

*upon availability

Three covers feature work by painter Rachel Marsil, Tyler Mitchell, and Gabriel Moses.

Additional contributors include Xerxes Cook, Haja Fanta, Alexandra Kleeman, Beatrice Loayza, Janelle Okwodu, Maya Singer and Dan Thawley; guest curator Tosin Adeosun (@africanstylearchive) assembled the magazine’s intro and outro galleries of photography and art and advised on the issue as a whole.

A family affair photograph By Tyler Mitchell.

Hair by Cyndia Harvey, make up by Kanako Yoshida, styling by Yohana Lebasi. It’s about getting ready. Photographer Tyler Mitchell and hair stylist Cyndia Harvey pay homage to the rituals of black hair care – rooted in Africa. And dispersed through the diaspora – through the lens of fine art. Tenderness, intimacy, creativity: A tradition of getting ready, together.

LA VIE EN ROSE, a film directed by Gabriel Moses.

A trio of flower girls clad in white play a hand-clapping game, chanting to each other, locking into rhythm. Wrestlers on a beach circle each other, sinewy arms flicking out, drawing back. Old women in jewel-toned headdresses sit in an endless dark, mourning the loss of the old ways; a pink-clad flight attendant slips into the back of a taxi, on her way to somewhere new. These are some of the images in Gabriel Moses film "Bal d'A frique-La vie en rose," a brief, impressionistic paean to the poetry of the everyday.

“I conceived Bal d’Afrique as a love letter to Africa.
It wasn’t an Africa I knew: At the time I created the scent, I was drawing on my father’s recollections of his travels to the continent. He’d jotted it all down in journals, and reading them, his memories became my imagined landscapes.

One way of looking at this debut issue of BYREDO MAGAZINE is that it’s my answer to my father’s journals — a recording of sights, sounds and people, impressions and conversations. A collective memory of the present.”

— Ben Gorham, Founder & Creative Director

“My hope is that in these pages you will see the richness of African culture, and the authority of Africans telling their stories, each in their own way. These stories span generations and continents. They make up a vibrant patchwork of perspectives and practices, and it was a pleasure to stitch it together.”

— Tosin Adeosun, Guest Curator

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Tyler Mitchell, Tosin Adeosun, Gabriel Moses, Dozie Kanu, Thebe Magugu, Korty, Nakhane, The Ghana School, Marie-céline Agossa, Mati Diop, Alice Diop, Wayétu Moore, Adjoa Armah, Adelaide Damoah, Paul Kodjo, Mikey February, Chef Malonga