Buhle Mguni (accessory designer and stylist); Me (Afroblush); Botwanese designer Augola; Chantelle (BlackPearlPR)
[From the left] ]
With Art Director Ola Shobowale, better described as the “go-to grandfather” for insight to African fashion.
With Korean designer and winner of the BFC International showcase, Minju Kim
With designer, writer and blogger Terrance Sambo aka One Nigerian Boy
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<3rd, from left to right_ Curator, Ji Hye Hong (KCCUK) and Sofia Hedman (independent fashion curator), Designer, Minju Kim and Yeashin Kim>
Korea were the winners of the BFC International fashion showcase, the exhibition was outstanding, focusing on the aesthetic dimension of fashion. Here are some pictures taken from the exhibition which is currently available for free to view at the Korean Culture Centre, London. My artists of choice were Ara Jo and Juhee Han.
Ara Jo-
” I founded my label, Ara Jo in 2009 after graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. I think Fashion is about enjoyment. I love fashion and I want people to enjoy fashion too. As you can see my work is different- avant garde, couture and a little crazy. I love creativity and I am sure there are people who enjoy my work enough to enjoy wearing them. In the end, that’s all that matters and that’s all I want.”
Juhee Han-
Juhee’s work consists of mainly knitwear and other handicrafts such as crochet and macrame.
“I play with colour, texture and shapes using various gauges of knitting. I would say my work is fairly wearable but slightly odd”
![200903170054[231]](http://afroblush.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/200903170054231.jpg?w=143&h=150)
I caught up with Philipina fashion designer and winner of the the prestigious International Young Creative Entrepreneur (IYCE) award for Fashion at London Fashion week 2010, Miche Dulce.
The video was filmed as part of her presentation for London Fashion Week’s International Fashion Showcase. Her exhibition is at the Philippine Embassy, alongside Jerome Lorico. 10 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG
Ubuntu “I am what I am because of who we all are”
The Ubuntu International Project showcase took place on Sunday (19th) as part of the Vauxhall Fashion Scout as part London Fashion Week 2012. The show is run by South African Artist Management (SAAM), an international consultancy committed to developing, promoting and exporting a new South African design-led aesthetic. The aim of the show was to provide a spotlight for emerging designers to illustrate how the diaspora is transcending the traditional viewpoint of afrocentric design.
The showcase was vibrant, and despite a couple of wardrobe malfunctions, I remained positively intrigued to see all the collections. It was mentioned by several attendees that the sheer growth of the event compared to sixth months ago is a testimony to the demand and support for emerging designers out of Africa. It heightens the expectation that emerging African designers could soon well be headline designers at future fashion weeks to come, I look forward to cheerleading on the front row when that happens, but I believe that we still have a way to go till we see that.
The collection I felt deserved most recognition was by was Jose Hendo, the inspirational and underrated Ugandan designer, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the ‘See Africa Differently’ launch party last Autumn. The description of her collection in the Ubuntu International Project brochure was spot on in saying that Jose takes a fresh approach to contemporary fashion design. Her entire collection uses eco-friendly fabrics to make unique bespoke pieces from barkcloth and cotton.
For the next Ubuntu showcase it would be exciting to see how the designers work uniformally with the makeup designers and hair stylists to create signature and wholesome looks for each collection. Every model had a cornow plait which lead into a teased up-do. I have come to find straight plaited cornrows cliché at African fashion showcases, especially with the variety of braid styles available. The event had an encouraging turnout and I look forward to see the development of Ubuntu International Project.
Click on an image to enlarge gallery
The list of designers include:
Clinton Lotter- The collection is based on the subtle culmination of afro and art deco influences Jose Hendo- The collection promotes the use of organic, untreated raw and recycled materials to support ethical trading. Kevin Friedman- An innovative combination of high caratage gemstones and precious metals with ordinary ‘found’ objects. Ayo Van Elmar- The collection is in tribute to the blast victims and families in Nigeria; a reminder that the voice of humanity and reason will triumph over barbarism. Samantha Dollar- The collection is inspired mainly by my African and Benue (Tiv) origins Joan Okorodudu- Collection from the brand, House of Jolla.
Minimalist designer Thomas Tait revealed his A/W 12 collection yesterday at E2 as part of London Fashion Week . I enjoyed reading his interview in the LFW Daily I picked up before the award ceremony on Sunday. I had only skimmed through the paper on the day, so this mornings commute into work was the perfect chance to gain some insight into the ongoings of the unseen shows the day before.
Rebecca Lawthorpe was quite right in saying that he has an Edward Scissor hand aura about him, and admittedly I derived some voyeristic pleasure from being let into the world of the enigmatic designer. In fact if I was reading aloud rather than typing I would surely be whispering. He is vulnerable and yet mysteriously self assured.
“You feel good in your clothes; you’re not doing it to impress your boyfriend or to get your photo taken; you’re doing it because it feels right; it just makes you feel good about yourself. That’s how I approach the design process, and hopefully that’s how the consumer is going to approach it” (Tait in his interview for LFWDaily- Sunday 19th February)
Click here to read the full interview
Here are pictures from his AW12 collection, courtesy of Glamour Magazine yesterday, thoughts?
Between the 11th-29th of February the British Fashion Council will be hosting the International Fashion Showcase, exhibiting fashion from around the world. The event is being held in light of London winning the Olympic bid and showing that “we honour the Olympic valus of international respect, excellence, equality and friendship”.
Each country had been asked to present a selection of emerging designers whom they feel most represents the future of fashion in their region. Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent and Contributing Editor to US Vogue, was to chair an advisory panel that will judge each piece of work, with an award given to the country that presents the best emerging fashion talent showcase.
The winners of the International Showcase was Korea, it was a fantastic exhibition, their designs were fresh, innovative and just completely out of the box. I was very pleased to Korea win and I will be posting pictures from their exhibition later on today, plus highlights from the Award Ceremony that took place at Somerset House on Sunday as part of London Fashion Week.
I feel encouraged and excited to see African fashion move forward from gaining its repertoire exclusively from print design, to being recognised for its contemporaneousness, innovation and tailoring. My favourite from the collection is the sequined pattern sleeveless dress, which boasts of colours that instantly take me under the spotlight of city lights. The dress immediately makes me feel like pinning my hair up and finding some ankle strap pumps. The detail of the dress also tells a story; if you look on the inside of the dress (see gallery) you can notice how the designer used an African print as a stencil for the embroidery, so although on the outside it looks like it would be worn by someone confident and cosmopolitan, inside there still remains the essence of Africa. This I believe represents the identity of the new generation Afropolitan fashionista’s and misters.
For now, here are the pictures from the three African countries that exhibited as part of the International Showcase, I had the pleasure of meeting the designers at the award show (pics following shortly), and was very proud to see the quality and evolution of work coming out of Africa.
Here is a list of the designers:
Black Trash, Botho Chalebgwa, Beryl Phala, Buhle Nguni, Thato Tlhagwane, Sela Motshwane
*Presented by Style House Files and the Nigerian High Commission*
Anita Quansah, Banke Kuku, Bridget Awosika, Eva Sonaike, Jewel by Lisa, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, Maki – Oh, Pegwell Hill, Sunny Rose, Vintage Colette
Salone Fine
Kazan Neckpiece by Anita Horsfall
Anita Horsfall trained as a textile designer at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London. The discovery of her Nigerian grandmother’s store of shimmery embroideries’ laid the foundation for Anita’s accessories. Her handmade pieces, with a juxtraposition of previous everyday materials earned Anita the ‘Best Accessory Designer of the Year’ at the 2011 Fashion Finest Awards in London.
3D Dress by Beryl Phala
Beryl Phala is a fashion design graduate from the University of Salford, Manchester. A Batswanan national based in the UK, Beryl has retained links with her homeland through her bespoke womenswear designs. These incorporate Botswana’s traditional leteitse cloth, also knows an German Cloth, which she sources directly from Botswana.
Perla Maxi Cluth Bag by Maureen Okogwu Ikokwu
Maureen Okogwu Ikokwu is a self-taught accessories designer of handbags and jewellery. In 2011 she launched her womenswear collection, Bird’s Eye, at the Spring Summer 2011 Lagos Fashion and Design Week.
Click on the images to enlarge and view the whole gallery.
It doesn’t usually take me all of six hours to write a post, however, today is no ordinary day, it’s the start of London Fashion Week 2012 (#LFW12), and my eyes have been glued to my Twitter feed like never before, I in fact fear I may need to attend meetings for Twitter feed anonymous once #LFW12 is over.
Right so whilst I am still high on everything that’s going on, let me fill you in…
Hope you enjoyed the pics circulating from the Twitter domain, no doubt some better ones should be in the press by this evening, I shall be taking plenty of my own pictures as of tomorrow.
I have to run off now, but I will be attending the British Fashion Council International Showcase at Somerset House this weekend, along with the awards on Sunday with BlackPearlPR . Tweet me if you will be there, or follow me on Twitter to keep in the loop (afro_blush)
Ciao!
Anne-Powell-Smith, you are a genius for quantifying the age old problem of dress size disparity across the high street!
“As everyone who’s ever bought clothes knows, high-street sizing is completely mad. You can easily be a size 8 in one store, and a size 14 in another, and it’s impossible to guess your size without lots of zip-wrangling. However, I am a computer programmer as well as a fashion fan, and so I decided to do something about it.”
Computer programmer and fashion fan Anna-Powell-Smith has created an app ‘What Size Am I’ that can tell you what size you are depending on which outlet you’re shopping in; the app lets you enter your bust, waist and hip size to determine what size you would be across a range of stores from online retailer ASOS through popular high street brand Zara. Frankly I was just as surprised as she was that no one had yet thought if this brilliant idea.
“The data I collected confirms that sizing is indeed madness. In the UK, a size 16 at Jaeger has a bust of 108cm, waist of 88cm and hips of 114cm: a size 16 at Banana Republic has a bust of 98cm, waist of 77cm and hips of 103cm. That’s a 4-inch difference, and it’s not unusual.
I assumed that the pricier stores would size smaller, but that’s not actually true. Counter-intuitively, a size 10 in upmarket Whistles, Zara, or Reiss is actually quite a bit bigger than a size 10 in ASOS, Monsoon, or M&S. And mass-market Next consistently has the smallest sizes on the high street.
I was particularly interested to see the different body shapes flattered by different stores. Broadly, M&S, Karen Millen and French Connection look the most pear-shaped: Banana Republic and Warehouse are best for the top-heavy: LK Bennett and Zara are cut for a fitted waist, while Oasis and TopShop seem most up-and-down.”
What Size Are You has been adapted for mobile phones, so you can use it on the move. Check it out here
I just about got this one in with two hours to go until midnight! As you’ve probably noticed I am following Musician, DJ and model Solange Knowles shares her fashion and style choices, every day.
I’m liking the necklace, it adds attitude to the whole preppy look, but my favourite has got to be the Mulberry Alexa. Nice!
Day 8
“Off to the studio in a Velvet sweater, Zara trousers, Mulberry Alexa and Linda Farrow sunglasses.”
http://www.vogue.co.uk/photo-blogs/solange-knowles/solange-knowles—day-8
Yesterday I did a Holborn Walk for the first time, which is a free historical tour around parts of London, the theme for the day was Charles Dickens in celebration of what would have been his 200th birthday. Ashamedly, besides the story of Oliver Twist I don’t remember much about the Charles Dickens novels, but luckily for me I was certainly not the only one. Nevertheless, once we were all together, Aly (our assigned and assertive tour guide) set us on the path to discover the areas of Holborn where Charles Dickens once worked, lived and based his novels upon. I have been living in London for over 20 years, and working in Holborn for coming up to two.
It is so typical to take such opportunities for granted, at times it’s the things that are the nearest and easiest to do that we put off the longest- damn my human nature!
So with that in mind I look forward to doing more random activities in the bosom of the this buzzing city.
Three random things I learnt about Holborn- (in a randomised order):
As always, I am never without my camera, so here are some snaps from the walk.
The journey covered a number of sights connected to the life and works of Charles Dickens. - who wrote about the perils of debt, financial crises and social inequality making him highly relevant today.
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Today I’m wearing a Proenza Schouler jacket with a DVF blouse, Armani trousers, a vintage YSL envelope clutch (which you can see close-up in the next photo), Lorraine Schwartz turquoise earrings, an Urban Outfitters hat and Lia Spohia and Konstantino rings.
http://www.vogue.co.uk/photo-blogs/solange-knowles/solange-knowles—day-7
Reblogged from the Guardian “Beauty for Dark Skin” (Tuesday 7th February 2012)
Although many of the factors causing them are beyond our control (those pesky genes), I still want to understand why my eye area has taken a sudden turn for the worse. “The darkening in colour is due to the thinning of skin around the eyes as we age,” explains Dr Nick Lowe, consultant dermatologist and professor at UCLA. “It lets the superficial blood vessels show through the skin, resulting in darkly pigmented circles.” However, post-inflammatory pigmentation caused by sensitivity or eczema in the eye area also causes skin to become pigmented, especially darker skins, but needs to be treated immediately by a doctor.
“Everyone, even those with darker skins, should wear wide, UV-protected sunglasses in sunlight and dab an SPF15 with UVA protection lightly under the eyes. If you don’t even do that, there is no point doing anything else.” Consider me told – I might never remove my shades again.
Prevention and minimising the appearance of dark circles are both key in this beauty battle. All the usual suspects contribute to their woeful intensity, so getting enough sleep, lowering stress levels and leading a healthy lifestyle will all help in the fight. Ditching the KFC, cigarettes and actually using the gym rather than treating it like a walk-in shower will also prove useful. But unfortunately, a scoop of eye cream won’t rectify these little lifestyle misdemeanours either. I go through pots of the gloop, to Lowe’s utter dismay.
“You should go easy on how much eye cream you apply. Excessive amounts can cause puffiness and block pores in the delicate eye area,” he warns.
From left: Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye, Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit, Origins Plantscription Anti-ageing Eye Treatment.
But, applied correctly, they definitely help to a certain degree by moisturising and plumping. Having tried every eye cream that has landed on my desk I’ve racked up a few favourites.
Through my quest, I’ve also become aware that the constant removal of make-up with wipes and removers is tugging at my skin, causing it to weaken further and those dark circles to worsen. Switching to Clinique’s Naturally Gentle Eye Make-up Remover (£13, clinique.co.uk) was a stroke of self-appointed genius. Although the area looks a little brighter than before, I still rely heavily on my trusty concealer.
You know a product is unspeakably good when you stop looking for something better. Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Concealer Kit (£23.50,bobbibrown.co.uk) is easy to apply (pat gently around the eye area with your index finger,) doesn’t settle into fine lines and comes with its own super-fine setting powder. The immense shade range means you’ll never fall foul of the cardinal dark skin sin of applying a too-light concealer around the eyes, causing that reverse panda effect.
We’ve cared for our dark circles with creams, treated them lovingly with concealer, altered our lifestyles but for those who have tried everything else, dermatologists recommend Fraxel lasering, one of the newer laser treatments that is said to be more effective on darker skins. As I consider it for a moment, Lowe reminds me of one of the biggest causes of dark circles – sun damage.
“Surprisingly warm day! I’m wearing a Torn by Ronny Kobo minidress and Alaia shoes.
http://www.vogue.co.uk/photo-blogs/solange-knowles/solange-knowles—day-6
M.I.A. drops an official video for "Bad Girl", off her upcoming "Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam" album. Directed by Romain Gavra. Enjoy.
