How To Rock African Fashion

Asooke throwStyling African wears could demand lots of detail and attention, this is because for it to fit into the contemporary world one needs to pay close attention to detail and be aesthetic about it.

Lots of fashion designers have come up with flexible wear designs that could be styled for different occasions. 

Here is a list of ways and places to style up your African wear,

  1.   AFRICAN CORPORATE FASHION

Do you want to infuse your African wear into the corporate world? Do you often attend business fairs, meetings, and conferences and you need the best styling ways to fit into these places and not look too traditional. The idea behind slaying an African outfit successfully is to keep it classy and simple at the same time.

Michelle Midi Oeclat

O’Eclat Designs, an ethical Nigerian brand, makes use of premium leather, to craft beautiful handmade bags, with some having beautiful African design prints, these bags can be combined with nice suits/ jackets or beautiful gowns. You will just stun in this fabulous look and have eye-rolling. These bags are made of African fabrics and could be used to fit into the contemporary style of dressing. These beautifully made African bags will suit perfectly with corporate dresses or corporate trousers and suits.

 

Morin O has also put together collections of African-inspired bags, wallets, belts, and slippers. Morin O’s handcrafted bags will always do well in your corporate world, Men’s bags are not left out, quality men’s bags for the corporate world. No matter the occasion, you can’t go wrong with a well-sewn colorful fabric made with rich leather sourced from Nigeria.

 

     2. AFRICAN SOCIAL FASHION

 There is a funny saying ‘’Eni o wo Ankara o je semo’’ meaning; that the guest who does not wear uniform fabric popularly called ‘’aso ebi’’ will not eat at the social gathering. The fabric is worn particularly and uniformly for celebration. On a lighter note, it may serve as a gate pass to several social events. African print is usually worn to social events such as weddings, burials, religious gatherings, and a lot more.

Ethnik Africa is a global brand inspired by ancient asooke craftsmanship of western Nigerian and African culture. This brand is known for making beautiful loafers, travel bags, asooke inspired sneakers, that can comfortably be worn to formal gatherings. It can be worn in jeans, jumpsuits, gowns, skirts, or even shorts, traveling bags, sneakers, etc.

Adorning yourself with African wear to socials could be very versatile and flexible. It is popularly known to be worn mainly in African countries though it is slowly being adopted by the western world. Several celebrities have been seen to embrace this trend, a couple of western celebrities such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Sia, and others have been seen rocking African fashion dresses and bags for several outings. This is a big win for the African fashion industry, though slowly but surely, the aim is for the whole world to finally embrace this trend into their culture and social lives.

 

      3. AFRICAN HANGOUT FASHION

There are times you simply need an easy-going style to wear for hangouts, small parties, dinners, or dates. Ankara shorts, crop tops, skirts, and gowns could be your best guess. Ankara/ Adire pullovers and tops are flexible in their utilization and styling and ought to be a staple in each woman’s closet. Ankara coordinate sets are easy to wear as you can rock them with trousers or gowns and skirts. If free wear for fashion lazy or work-free day. The African hangout is a series of ready-to-wear items that one just picks up from the wardrobe.

Ethnik Africa bowler hats

 

Mimiremi Textiles; Proudly Hand Printed In Lagos, Nigeria

The African culture is rich, strong, colorful, diverse and powerful. Mimiremi textiles new collection of prints titled ‘OTU’, which means ‘1’(ONE) in Igbo language has its strength both in the pattern and the symbolic nature of the number one.

 

Speaking about the new collection, Aderonke Jaiyeola, founder of Mimiremi Textiles said, “I remember vividly that cool Saturday afternoon in 2012, light drizzle of rain dropping on me and the table in front of me as I struggled to print 2 yards of fabrics in front of the house using the screen printing method. Discouraged by the stress of the work and the imperfect print I made, I ventured into other things.

For many years I’ve had the passion to help designers create unique Custom made designs for their brand without stress. Earlier in the year, I was determined to start printing our fabrics in Nigeria. Despite big hurdles, disappointments and sleepless nights, I am happy to finally present our first collection of hand printed fabrics to my dear friends and colleagues…’ OTU (NO 1)”.

Hand printed textiles from Mimiremi  the Otu Collection
The Otu Collection From Mimiremi Textiles

Aderonke was also delighted to let us know that now;

  1. All can now print exclusive patterns and fabrics from Mimiremi locally without travelling over land and seas.
  2. The brand now help fashion designers create awesome prints they’ve been dreaming of without paying high shipping/custom duty.
  3.  By producing locally, Mimiremi is able to achieve the following goals in line with the United Nations Sustainable development goals, They support Goal 1 (NO poverty), Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal 9 (Industry and Economic growth) and Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities).
  4.  The brand can now proudly print ‘Made in Nigeria’ on their products.
  5.  You can be sure of having unending collection of fresh prints from their studio.

At Mimiremi Textiles, it is not just about fabrics, It’s about the rich African story that is told through the prints.
With the creative industry in Nigeria gaining unprecedented international exposure, the industry has been seen as an alternative to the nation’s dwindling oil fortunes.

One part of the creative industry is fashion and their raw material is textiles (fabrics), with the average Nigerians love for fashion and asoebi, if Nigeria can produce their own fabrics ( which Mimiremi is now doing), coupled with the design talent, the sky will not be the limit for the industry.

As a closing remark she said, ” as we launch our first collection of fabrics hand printed in Nigeria ‘OTU’, I look forward to the day when other African countries will begin to depend on Nigeria for their supply of fabrics.”

To Contact Mimiremi;

Email: [email protected]

Call; 08034898474

Connect on Instagram; Mimiremi

Why Naomi Campbell believes Africa should guard its fashion and fabrics jealously

Africa should guard its fashion and fabrics jealously to stop the western world coming in and making a fortune from them, says one of the world’s best known supermodels.

Naomi Campbell– draped in an elegant gown, in the colours of a peacock with a flamboyant head wrap crowning her towering six foot frame, took to the stage Friday at the Durban International Convention Centre, South Africa for the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit.

“Africa needs to keep its fabrics to itself,” said Campbell.

Campbell is known as one of the longest working supermodels in the world and she hopes the continent can make more out of her fashion world. She believes that African prints and designs can be but exported profitably.

Campbell was the epitome of fashion on stage and appeared to practice what she was preaching.

“It’s Marianne Fassler,” said Campbell proudly of her frock. Fassler is one of South Africa’s pre-eminent fashion designers, who has worked with Campbell before. Elevating African fashion and its designers is a passion of Campbell’s, who has spent 33 years strutting down the catwalks of the world.

“My passion and drive is to see this continent of Africa be as great as it should be,” said Campbell.

The self-styled rebel, Naomi Campbell, was in Durban, South Africa to address leading women from across the continent and the world over.

Today marks the 44th celebration of International Women’s Day. The official date, March 8th, was recognised by the United Nations in 1975 and is a public holiday in many countries across the world.

“We should have more than just one international women’s day, because we do so much,” insisted Campbell.  As well as fine jewellery, Campbell wears many hats. She has spent over a decade working on charitable causes with organisations such as UNAIDS and says that other than empowering women’s health, making sure young girls are educated and self-reliance is very important to her.

Culled from CNBC Africa

CBN To Set To Revive Nigeria’s Textile Industry

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to revive Nigeria’s textile industry, unveiling measures that will see the development achieved. To this effect, the CBN has placed a restriction on forex access to importers of textiles and other clothing materials into the country. Henceforth, importers of textile and textile materials will not be able to purchase foreign exchange from banks and Bureau de change as well as other operators in the official foreign exchange market.

The announcement was made by the CBN Governor, Mr. Emefiele, at a meeting with textile industry stakeholders which held in Abuja last week.

“Effective immediately, the CBN hereby place the access to FX for all forms of textile materials on the FX restriction list. Accordingly, all FX dealers in Nigeria are to desist from granting any importer of textile material access to FX in the Nigerian Foreign exchange market.”

According to Mr Emefiele, the restriction will boost the domestic textile industry as well as create jobs for Nigerians. He noted that the apex bank would initially support the importation of cotton lint for use in textile factories, with a caveat that such importers will begin to source their cotton needs locally beginning from 2020.

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