South African designer Shelley Mokoena continues to shape a new design language with Connade’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Hand in Hand, first shown at Paris Fashion Week.
The collection explores how touch, rhythm and memory connect people across generations. Rooted in African futurism and ritual craft, Mokoena turns the act of making into a quiet conversation between the body and its ancestry, between what is remembered and what is still becoming.
Each garment carries a trace of movement. The folds and seams seem to hold the rhythm of creation, as if stitched with memory. The silhouettes are sculptural but soft, made from handwoven fabrics that feel lived in, grounded in the warmth of human touch.
The colour palette draws from the land itself: ochre, weathered stone and sun-worn linen. These tones root the collection in Africa’s landscapes while pointing toward new possibilities. The clothes move easily between structure and spirit, inviting wearers to see design as a form of continuity rather than decoration.
For Mokoena, Hand in Hand is more than a seasonal story. It’s a philosophy of connection. It imagines design as a bridge between maker and material, past and future, presence and potential.
Through Hand in Hand, Connade affirms its place in a growing movement of African avant-garde designers who create with precision, emotion and deep respect for the human story.
