Fashion Week Africa: Day 1

Fashion of Saturday, 2 November 2013

Source: Joy Online

Wednesday night, was a night of bliss and glamour as Africa's biggest and talented names in fashion came to show off their skills at this year's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa in Pretoria, South Africa. The four-day event, taking stage at the City Hall, Tshwane, Pretoria, is bringing together the best of African fashion on stage in series of impressive shows. On Wednesday night - the first day, Samsung presented 'Amaze Africa', a unique showcase which brought together 14 leading fashion and accessory designers from across the continent. The 14 designers, including Italy-based Ghanaian designer Nana Brenu, teamed up in pairs to display some exciting new designs to the delight of Africa. Their designs ranged from classy, funky and urban trends with a unique blend of youthful colours. Nana Brenu teamed up with Ugenda/Kenyan designer Adele Dejak to present the 'Coleoptera' collection. Their presentation received massive acceptance from the audience. Other collaborations on the night include 'Herpetology' by Laurence Airline (Ivory Coast) and Missibaba (South Africa), 'Cycadales' by Taibo Bacar (Mozambique) and Pichulik (South Africa), 'Hymnoptera' Loin Cloth and Ashes (Tanzania/South Africa) and Doreen Mashika (Tanzania), 'Lepidoptera' by Projecto Mental (Angola) and Rift Valley Leather (Kenya), 'Avialae' by Black Coffee (South Africa) and Albertus Swanepoel NY (South Africa/New York). The night, however, was preceded by a private spring/summer collection show - dubbed From Behind The Veil - by South African to designer Gavin Rajah. The collection - featuring 29 models - comprised of carefully designed and beautifully blended cloths of grey, black, and white colours set to spice any occasion. The new collection, Gavin Rajah told Myjoyonline.com, was inspired by the strength of female characters that have ruled from behind veils in 'Arthurian Legends from behind walls or towers during war.'