Tsemaye Binitie launched his self-titled women's wear brand in 2010 and since then has consistently delivered on his founding principles of complex minimalism. Often incomporating traditional African aesthetics into contemporary fabrics and sleek sillohettes, Tsemaye produced clothes that are well-finished and wearable by any woman who appreciates a good dress
Folake Coker, creative director of the Nigeria-based brand "Tiffany Amber" is known to deliver lightweight, loose-flowing styles that are symbolic of the effervescence of the West African woman.
Weiz Dhurm Franklyn was another in the long list of LFDW participants who came to wow. In his own words, his S/S 2016 collection is "inspired by the baroque era" and "is filled with rich embroidery details and voluminous trains." In short, Franklyn's clothes this season were pure art! Innovative, avant guard and fresh, are a few of the descriptives that this collection brought to mind. Check out a few of my favorites below:
Offiah is a fashion architect. Her designs always have strong shape and defined lines that are reminiscent of modern building structures, yet a flattering and feminine in their own right. Her most recent collection was in line with that asthetic and her attention to detail and clean finishing were icing on the proverbial cake. Check out a few of my favorite looks from her collection below:
In a short statement about the inspiration for the S/S 2016 "Geometric Fusion" collection, the brand explains that the collection is "[h]eavily influenced by geometry" and "uses tie-dye from Nike Art Gallery and digital images to create hexagon ad triangle tessellation prints." Innovative, yet reflective of culture. Fabulous! Check out a few of my favorites from the collection below:
When I started blogging almost two years ago, I never imagined that my journey would include planning fashion events. The Creative Development Reception was an idea that I developed after participating in a focus group a few months ago for the World Bank's Sierra Leone Diaspora Investment Study. The goal of the study was to collect data on the trends for diaspora investment (beyond just remittances) in Sierra Leone. After the study was completed, they planned a full day forum to discuss the results of the survey and needed an idea for a reception to close out the event. Fortunately, I was able to convince the organizers of the forum that a small fashion presentation would be both an enjoyable closeout to the forum and an excellent demonstration of the potential for sustainable development through investment in Sierra Leone's fashion industry.
The only thing better than one fashionable person is two, and today we're profiling the fierce fashion duo Mr. & Mrs. Jalloh of Philadelphia.
Sierra Leoneans look forward to food, celebrations and statement fashion at every holiday regardless of religious affiliation, and EID is no exception. Designer Adama Paris wets our fasting appetites as the Islamic holy month winds to a close with modest & elegant pieces from her EID capsule collection.
I attended my first Ghanian wedding this weekend and I was honestly at a loss for what to wear until the very last minute. I didn't know the couple so I didn't have any material to sew but I still wanted to wear something cultural. I ended up pairing a Christie Brown (Ghanian designer) necklace with a dress from the H&M conscious collection (a couple seasons old). I think it worked out fine:
We were excited to catch a glimpse of NYC based designer Laquan Smith's spring 2016 collection which debuted during NYFW this week at the Refinery Rooftop.
