Words Helen Jennings Photography Kevin Tachman
Thursday saw the moment the African fashion industry has been waiting for since ARISE Magazine Fashion Week (AMFW) in March, when it was announced that we’d be sending our designer collective to Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week for Spring 2012. And Made In Africa was worth certainly worth the wait.
With requests for tickets triple the 1,500-capacity of the Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and Twitter going off the hook for #madeinafrica on the day of the show, all was surprisingly calm backstage as the 6pm showtime approached. “I'm really excited. If you'd asked me how I was a few days ago I'd probably have burst into tears of exhaustion, but now I'm happy and looking forward to seeing all the hard work come to light,” said Lisa Folawiyo as she stood expectantly next to her rail of Jewel by Lisa looks.
In the beauty room, I found chief make-up director Tom Pecheux giving his team instructions. "The main trend at NYFW this season has been very fresh faced using lots of nudes, it’s a softer take on 50s glamour," he explained. He gives the ARISE models smoky cats eyes, matt skin and natural lips using a touch of balm. ”I'm in love with Anais [Mali] - her beauty is heaven, and so is her brain!”
Sigail Currie and Georgie Baddiel were also in hair and make-up, reminiscing about AMFW. "l loved Lagos,” said Sigail. “It was heart warming to help showcase the work of so many African designers so I wouldn’t have missed today’s show for the world."
Film crews, photographers and model boyfriends (hello Sessilee’s beau, Wendell Lissimore) were finally shooed front of house as the stalls filled up with press, buyers, artists, entertainers and assorted VIPs including Oluchi Onweagba, D’Banj, Sound Sultan and Omarion.
BET presenter and ARISE columnist Lola Ogunnaike came on stage to introduce Saran Kaba Jones, the founder of Face Africa, a non-profit organisation that provides clean water for rural communities in her native Liberia. Jones explained the underlying significance of the show’s water theme (the stage resembled a lush, cascading waterfall) in a short speech and then the lights dimmed, the music blared and the first collection, African Kaleidoscope by Asibelua, began the show...
Shapes were boxy and slouchy with capes, bat-winged shifts, long-column skirts and trousers providing the canvas for Asibelua’s retro prints. From monochrome houndstooth, check and tartan to warm orange and red circle and animal-like designs, it was the patterns that did the talking and created a more global, youthful spirit than Fati Asiebula is known for under her more established Nigeria-based Momo brand.
Tsemaye Binitie was up next with a collection entitled Beautiful People. The Nigerian-born, London-based designer specialises in glamorous, body-conscious womenswear but for Spring 2012 he played with softer lines and sporty themes for the first time. Sheer fabrics, leather and neoprene were concocted into a succession of clean, simple, layered silhouettes in an on-trend palette of washed-out pinks, greens and greys. ARISE’s New Face of the Year, 16-year-old Chika Emmanuella, who had flown in from Lagos that morning for her first experience of an international catwalk, received cheers of support from the audience as she appeared wearing a white dress with fringing. Georgie got to wear the killer look though, a long flower lace dress festooned with marabou feather that, Binitie informed me earlier, took three people ten weeks to make.
Bunmi Koko took the water theme to heart with her collection, Allure of the Sirens. Soft, draped and crinkled looks including culottes and slips, and highly structured pieces, such as a standout laser-cut jacket, came in aquatic colours shot through with neon yellow. A strong, confident collection that the brand will show again at London Fashion Week next week.
Lanre Da Silva Ajayi gave the audience butterflies, quite literally, with richly hued, intricately cut silk dresses that shimmied and fluttered with each model’s movements, conjuring up images of butterfly wings. She also showed 40s-inspired lace outfits in white and baby pink or deep purple and turquoise, and sexy suiting in glittering tweeds. “It’s very First Lady-like, I love it,” said model-turned shoe designer Armando Cabral, who was sitting next to me. When Lanre came out to take her bow, however, she gave us all a shock as she tumbled off the stage. But Lola Ogunnaike helped her up, dusted her off and she was soon back on the catwalk in one piece.
Pierre-Antoine Vettorello paired loose military vests, shorts and cigarette pants in combinations of grey silks, a wax print from Côte d'Ivoire, golden snakeskin and rouge perforated suede. But what made the collection growl were the aggressive, organic millinery and silver tooth and jaw appendages that snapped back from necklaces and shoulders. His movie-watching habits (Jaws, Little Shop Of Horrors) were apparent.
Jewel by Lisa’s Vintage Love collection began with projections of JD Okhai Ojeikere’s photographs of stylish, traditionally dressed men and women in 1960s Nigeria. She transformed these references into demure blouses, flirty-hemmed mini skirts, slim-fit trousers, short-sleeved jackets, and dresses based on the agbada. Her signature embellished ankara clashed nicely with two new watercolour prints (one splotchy, one of a dancing lady) and block-colour chiffon and guipure lace. Most must-have though were the cute-as-candy beaded clutches, and a Mad Men meets Dior’s New Look dress that sent the Twitterati wild.
Finally, KLûK CGDT introduced an air of 1930s elegance with soft, frothy, flowing looks fit for a steamship cruise. The South African duo’s sheer, sexy gala gowns, overflowing with embroidery, trains, netting and feathers and accessorised by Masai-inspired jewellery and long gloves, made the models look like they should either be sat at the captain’s table or waltzing down the aisle. A high-octane offering with a bit of cheekiness thrown in too.
Fashion show over, it was the job of platinum-record selling performer Leona Lewis to bring the show home. She was accompanied by two backing singers and a guitarist as she sang her new Ibiza anthem, Collide,;old favourite Better In Time,;and an acoustic cover of Bruno Mars’s Grenade. But it was her last track, and biggest hit, Bleeding Heart that really soared. “Go on Leona!” a man screamed two rows behind me, followed by “Don’t go!” as she made her exit, bringing this glorious spectacle to a close.
Guests then decamped to the after party at the grand Essex House, where champagne flowed, canapés circled, R. Kelly performed and party people schmoozed hard into the wee small hours.
Helen Jennings | ARISE Magazine, editor