Check out the African style stars that have made the 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards shortlist

The Council of Fashion Designers of America gives designers of American nationality the recognition they deserve however some designers being nominated are of African descent. They recently released the names of the nominees for the 2019 fashion awards on Instagram and some familiar names made the cut.

This year's list featured some new faces and the 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards included two talented African menswear designers who use their platform to challenge social issues such as race.

These designers have been vocal about their personal politics and it seeps into all facets of their work. To have that work recognised on such a global scale by the CFDA and its judges is a huge feat for black fashion design.

One of the nominees is man of the moment, Ghanaian-American creative director of Off-White and artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear, Virgil Abloh. The talented designer was nominated for both Menswear Designer of the Year and Accessory Designer of the Year. Designer, Telfar Clemens, who is of Liberian and American descent, was also nominated in the Accessory Designer of the Year category.