In May–July 2019 Tadias reported that Ethiopian-American brand ZAAF, founded by Abai Schulze, presented fashion photographs shot in Ethiopia’s Afar/Danakil landscape at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C.
ZAAF makes premium leather goods designed with Ethiopian craft links, and the Smithsonian show paired stills with documentary material to place Ethiopian fashion inside a major U.S. museum rather than only diaspora pop-ups.
Culture coverage like this matters because it shows Ethiopian makers claiming high-end space abroad while factories at home still fought over wages and FX.
Kept as culture and arts archive, the ZAAF Smithsonian file dates a diaspora brand moment that tied Afar imagery to Washington audiences.
Sources: Tadias Magazine