FASHION SPOTLIGHT: THE FORCES OF FASHION IN AFRICAN FABRIC

Hello people..New Month. New Feature. Here's a guest post by one of the most prolific social media personas I know. Happy 4th of July to all my US readers & followers.

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The Forces of Fashion in African Fabric by Africa's Tweet Queen

BOLD, bright and beautiful – that might be your perception of African fashion and fabrics that craft the clothing, but broaden your fashion vocabulary. When it comes to this trend, adjectives such as cool, chic and cross-functional also apply. 


Welcome to 21st Century African couture. Significant developments have taken place in African fashion over the last few years, including its perception. These days, African fabrics and fashion aren’t regarded by western audiences and buyers as just “traditional” wear – that patronising euphemism for unsophisticated. 

At the same time, the use of African textiles, craft and fashion work by western designers has been on the increase. Those grand-daddies of style have already embraced the trend for all-things African – Burberry, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton, following the lead of Yves Saint Laurent, and Nigerian Deola Sagoe’s haute couture designs continue to stack up fans.

 Where those grand-daddies and dames lead, the celebrity pack follows, anxious as always to display their rock-hard grip on the zeitgeist – Beyonce Knowles, Rihana, Fergie and Kim Kardashian have adopted the Ankara fabric, for example, as a glamourous wardrobe must-have.
 Just as every significant industry has its big names, so too do African fashion and fabrics. 

The Big Four (plus the eccentric newcomer) – Da Viva, Vlisco, Uniwax and WoodinFashion, along with fabric creator and fashion designer Nana Wax – lead the charge, an enticing finger that beckons those who love beautiful fabrics and fashion to follow them, explore their treasures and embrace the look of the moment. 

Da Viva

Da Viva blends cutting-edge design with vibrant colours, its in-design team working to produce individual style for the fashion-conscious client, and offering accessories and bags for further fashion punch. 

 Vlisco

 Vlisco includes innovative, original and true craft work among its fashion vocabulary and its website pages invite you to dive into material design that shakes up the senses. The company is soon to open a boutique in Lagos, Nigeria and we hope they are ready for the in-flux of demand. 

Something new for “I do” from Vlisco Patchwork

UniWax

Uniwax, born in 1968 from the settlement agreement between the Ivorian Government and partners, Gamma Holding and Unilever, produces real WAX, designed to meet local and international demand. Its imaginatively-titled collections range from shadows and light to jewelry, floral paradise and more.

WoodIn Fashion

 WoodIn Fashion showcases fabulous fashion, and prides itself on fabrics that can be used to serve many purposes. On its website, stylist Esi Cleland-Yankson delivers styling advice, mixing and matching prints to expand your fashion horizons and make you receptive to just what can be achieved with these fabrics. 

NANAWAX

NANAWAX matches African fabrics (creating those fabrics too) with European styles to great effect. Starting life in 2012 with private sales in Paris, New York, Montreal, Barbados and London, it favours the terms unique and refined to describe what it supplies to an eager customer base. (And 5 percent of NANAWAX profits go to charitable organizations in Benin.)
 Check out her Instagram account to appreciate her feel for fluidity in fashion. 

These five have earned their credentials thoroughly, ticking off those criteria boxes of high quality that a high-end fashion product should.

Their fabrics are unique. Their products are wide-spread, known beyond the continent and globally appreciated. The fabrics used are good quality and they can be mixed with other fabrics such as silk, lace and chiffon fusing together further creative and versatile styles. Tick, tick, tick.

But what also adds to this fabulous frothing mix, bubbling over in excitement and spilling out it beautiful contents is that our Big Five have been in the market for a long time. They have changed and adapted in order to maintain relevance and they are affordable.

Clothes and style evolve based on what print or fabric you choose – but this means thinking outside of the box when it comes to African fabrics and fashion. As the saying goes, the only limit is your imagination. WoodinFashion’s stylist’s ultimate styling tip is finding the balance between suiting the occasion and suiting yourself.

What’s your occasion – a day-to-day dress which works across meeting up with friends and going to work? Or an outfit for an evening event which will see you mix with sharp-eyed fashionistas (watch them widen their eyes in envy)? A unique piece of clothing that will mark you out as fashion-forward and with as rock-hard a grip on the zeitgeist as the afore-mentioned zelebs?! 

African fabrics and fashion has it beautifully covered, clothed in the fabrics of tradition that has met and embraced the 21st Century.

About Kathleen Ndongmo aka Africa's Tweet Queen
http://about.me/kathleenndongmo

Isn't African Fabric  already one of  fastest growing fashion trends? 

What do you think will enable African designers to go mainstream? 

If you will like to be a guest blogger. Please email me @ irepcamer.gmail. 

I love African Fabric any day. Stay Fashionable. 

Y.M. 
IRepCamer