Mahlet Afework is the founder and creative director of MAFI MAFI, a sustainable Ethiopian fashion brand launched in 2011.

A celebrated fashion designer, Mahlet has gained international recognition, including being a finalist in the Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge. Her designs have been showcased on runways from Addis Ababa and Lagos to Paris and New York, and have been featured in leading publications such as Vogue Italia, BBC, and Forbes Africa.

MAFI MAFI merges Ethiopia’s rich cultural heritage with contemporary fashion, using hand-woven fabrics crafted by local female artisans. Dedicated to women’s empowerment, Mahlet provides her employees — many of them mothers — with fair wages, flexible working conditions, and access to professional training.

In 2024, Mahlet founded Mafi Fashion Academy & Lab (MFAL), Ethiopia’s first international fashion academy, to equip the next generation of African fashion leaders with world-class training.