Alek Wek in Stoned Cherrie
This past Friday, four African design houses – MOMO, Stoned Cherrie, Tiffani Amber and Xuly BET – showed at New York Fashion Week as part of the first This Day/ Arise magazine African Fashion Collective.
I spent all weekend furiously googling to aggregate the blogosphere’s take on the events (unfortch Sistagirlfriend has no budget – yet – to jet off to NY at the drop of a hat!).
The show was opened by the legendary Grace Jones. Other big name models – Liya Kebede, Alek Wek, Oluchi, Tyson Beckford, Stacey McKenzie, Chanel Iman – worked the runway, looking spectacular in the best African designs.
According to the New York Times:
For Nkhensani Nkosi, the founder of the South African label Stoned Cherrie, African fashion has been signified by “the Big Five and leopard prints” for too long.
What, she suggested, of the Africa of Malik Sidibe, the much-lauded Malian studio photographer whose images of young people in Bamako in the 1950s and 1960s are a mine of late 20th century African style? What of the Africa of Papa Wemba, the Congolese musician famed for having created SAPE (Société Ambianceurs et Persons Élégants), a movement that made a cult of designer dressing and slyly subverted European notions of African style by adding the raffia skirts and cowrie shell hats of rural rustics to his crisp onstage uniform of Versace and Cerruti suits? “There is so much urban energy right now,” she said, “waiting to be bottled and sold.”
“Africa still trying to get its head above water,” said Lamine Kouyate, a Malian designer better known by the pseudonym Xuly Bet . “One problem for us is that we don’t have media talking about this African energy, this sophistication. All anyone is obsessed about is disease and what’s going wrong.”
For at least a half-hour, there was the sense that western fashion might finally move toward integrating itself with the larger world.
The Telegraph framed the show around the new Obama era:
The designs were modelled by a United Nations roll-call of girls from more than a dozen countries, including Ethiopia, Namibia, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Russia, China and the Netherlands, along with Tyson Beckford, the most celebrated black American male model, and the black catwalk superstars, Alek Wek, from Sudan, and Chanel Iman.
Xuly Bet showed contemporary sportswear in denim and corduroy and T-shirt dresses printed with President Obama’s face.
Tiffany Amber’s collection featured silk shantung and traditional ‘Ankara’ fabrics, with intricate shell and bead embroidery.
Alek Wek closed Nkosi’s Stoned Cherrie collection in a shadow-dyed, burnt orange-to-earth toned, silk chiffon gown with an elaborate, jewelled collar. Zebra, leopard, giraffe and snake patterns, printed on hand-woven taffeta, cashmere and metallic silk, in shades of pewter and gold, were the feature of Asibelua’s Momo collection.
Black Voices’ take:
All showed exquisite, tailored designs with ethnic accents and details. The show was quite impressive from the front row guests – Ryan Leslie, Chrisette Michele, Calvin Pace of the New York Jets, newsanchor Sade Baderinwa and model agency owner Bethann Hadison, to the models who walked-Estee Lauder model Liya Kebede opened, Italian Vogue covermodel Sessilee Lopez, Chanel Iman, Liya Kebede, Victoria’s Secret Oluchi, Alek Wek, Tyson Beckford and Jamaican model-turned-runway coach Stacey Mackenzie did a return to the tents. The afterparty was swanky with a fab performance by Solange Knowles at The Plaza Hotel. To quote CNN correspondent Lola Ogunnaike there, “Äfrica is the new Black. We’re major.” And it showed.
And here’s some reaction from the blogosphere:
Lavish Mag Blog:
Stoned Cherrie’s tribute to Miriam Makeba had viewers singing in their seats. Her pieces were pumped with color, and featured wonderfully crafted jacquard coats, cigarette pants and funky but functional pencil skirts. Very feminine, flowing, and exciting to watch from the first whispy blouson sleeved shirt, to the graceful ombré dress worn on Alex Wek.
Second City Style:
Similarly feminine with luscious colors, Stoned Cherrie’s billowy tops and ruffles were interspersed with slim, tailored pants and high-waistlines, bringing back a bold new version of the 1970′s girl-about-the-office.
Pic via.
Say what?