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New Orleans, US | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s premier fashion house, ARAPAPA by Santa Anzo, will take center stage at the 37th Annual UNAA Convention & Trade Expo. Hosted at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, the event runs from today, Friday, August 29, to September 1.
The collaboration with Inspire Africa Group (IAG), formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding, is a marquee showcase with the theme “Brewed in Uganda, Styled for the world!” The partnership positions coffee and couture as twin ambassadors for Uganda’s identity and enterprise. IAG will support the ARAPAPA Fashion Showcase as a signature diaspora moment, advancing its mission to scale Uganda’s coffee revenues and footprint through value addition, exports, and coffee tourism.
ARAPAPA will debut a limited-edition capsule collection called “Coffee as Couture: Where Taste Meets Texture.” The collection is inspired by Uganda’s coffee culture and will feature warm, earthy palettes and textured storytelling on an international runway for diaspora leaders, creatives, and investors.
While Pearl of Africa Night has traditionally celebrated Ugandan music and culture, ARAPAPA’s presence puts fashion diplomacy in the spotlight. This year’s showcase also marks two milestones: 25 years of ARAPAPA and 30 years of Santa Anzo’s industry leadership.
Santa Anzo, the ARAPAPA Founder and Creative Director, said, “Headlining Pearl of Africa Night is both an honour and a responsibility. For me, it is the culmination of three decades of resilience, creativity, and belief in the power of African fashion. Fashion is more than clothes. It is a language of identity and diplomacy.”
“When we take the runway in New Orleans, we are telling the world: Uganda is ready, powerful, and beautiful.”
Looking ahead, ARAPAPA and IAG will build a broader campaign linking coffee, fashion, and tourism. The campaign will include diaspora showcases and experiences that channel visitor traffic and trade back to Uganda, including IAG’s flagship initiatives to grow value-added coffee and cultural tourism.
The UNAA Convention is the largest annual gathering of Ugandans in the diaspora, drawing thousands from the United States, Canada, and beyond. This year’s Pearl of Africa Night will be held at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, USA, from August 29 to September 1, 2025.
