About Mais Af
Maison D'Afrique.
That's what Mais Af means. The house of Africa. We kept it close — Mais from Maison, Af from Afrique — because the idea behind the name is exactly what we do: create a home for the creative work coming out of Africa. Fashion, ceramics, art, design. Made on the continent, brought to the world.
It started with a late night and an Instagram rabbit hole.
2014. It's 10pm. I'm - Ufo here - going through Instagram and I fall into this blackhole of incredible fashion designers based across Africa. Gorgeous work. Designers I'd never heard of. Three hours later I still couldn't stop scrolling.
The problem wasn't finding the work. Scrolling for hours on end had told me that but product descriptions were vague and sizing was guesswork. Was that a 12 UK or 12 US? Half the time it didn't work. The real issue access. I ended up enlisting friends who happened to live near my favourite stores to Skype-shop on my behalf- Grey Projects at the time. Shout out to Nusi (and her then-2-year-old in tow) for visiting those Grey Projects Sales in Dolphin Estate, Lagos.
That gap - between the quality of the work and the difficulty of accessing it - is why Mais Af exists.
What we do.
Central to Mais Af is We find exceptional makers across Africa; artists, fashion designers, potters, weavers, you name it and we bring their work to people who would never otherwise discover it. We go to the workshops and studios ourselves. We tell the stories behind the pieces - and we make it easy to buy.
We're not a marketplace. We're a house of discovery. Every piece here is chosen because we believe in the person who made it.
What's coming next.
In June 2026, we're hosting the Fête de la Mais Af in Paris — a celebration of Africa's creative world, in one of the world's great creative cities. It's our relaunch: bigger, louder, and more intentional about what Mais Af is here to do.
We're glad you found us. Look around.
— Ufo, Founder