Fashion Week Africa goes bold

Fashion Week Africa goes bold

That continent’s top designers were in Johannesburg this past weekend to showcase their latest creations at Fashion Week Africa. Each year, the event draws designers, and international and local buyers, all hoping to expose African design to the rest of the world.
Bold, colorful prints were the big craze this year. Designers married bright colors with elegant cuts and decidedly African influences.
One designer used her collections to pay homage to her Nigerian roots and the evolution of fashion from her early years.
Deola Sagoe, fashion designer, said,"It’s the product of my love affair with the Nigerian traditional attire that dates back to the 60’s and the 70’s. In this era there was a lot of fashion coming in from the west into Nigeria, Africa was starting to get noticed all over the world."
A Paris based designer drew inspiration from his Ivorian background to create a collection celebrating the female form.
Eli Kuame, fashion designer, said,"My collection turn around structure of femininity, so I build around this perfect architecture of flowy texture to make like elegance become the slave of the woman."
Fashion weeks are typically filled with nights of decedance and celebration, so designers have to work hard to make an impression on buyers.
South African designer said he hoped the audience’s positive response to his clever mix of bold African prints on satin and embroidered cotton would be mirrored by the buyers.
Thula Sindi, fashion designer, said,"Shows are good, shows are, it’s an expo. I am launching a product and it seems like people were partial to it, there was no booing so I think it was ok, but now we go into sales, and we go into showroom and start getting into stores which is the most important part."
This year, more than 20 shows were presented by designers from across the continent.

That continent’s top designers were in Johannesburg this past weekend to showcase their latest creations at Fashion Week Africa.

That continent’s top designers were in Johannesburg this past weekend to showcase their latest creations at Fashion Week Africa.

That continent’s top designers were in Johannesburg this past weekend to showcase their latest creations at Fashion Week Africa.

That continent’s top designers were in Johannesburg this past weekend to showcase their latest creations at Fashion Week Africa.