🇨🇲Boubougown

When her parents enrolled her in a vocational school, Augustine Mabiama thought they had blighted her future. Years later, as the founder of a recognised brand in the growing African fashion industry, she sees that decision differently.

In one corner of a busy fashion house in Douala, Cameroon, designer Augustine Mabiama is in the middle of a photo shoot, using a makeshift photo studio equipped with an 18-inch light ring and a smartphone on a stand.

Showcasing a whole range of outfits of different styles and colours, Mabiama checks the lighting quality of the images. After making a few adjustments to the clothes for the next shot, she steps back in front of the camera, poses briefly, then walks around the light ring to check the image.

Mabiama is the founder of Nakuin Couture, a fashion brand that has cemented her reputation across the country. The chosen pictures – with herself as model – will go through an editing process, and in the coming days, they will land on the Nakuin Couture Instagram page.