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Special Event | Fashion Show
Featured Designers: KiRette Couture | BiriBelle Clothing | Olori
| Kibonen Nfi & Anrette Ngafor - KiRette Couture (KC) |
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KiRette Couture (KC) is a new African-influenced fashion label with a global footprint. Created in 2009 by Kibonen Nfi and Anrette Ngafor, it is inspired by the toghu, a colourful and intricately embroidered outfit used for special occasions by the people of Cameroon’s Western Highlands region.
Selected as an Inspirational Designer of 2009 by the esteemed Ethical Fashion Forum, UK, KiRette Couture sources its fabrics and produces tailor made, hand crafted and limited edition pieces exclusively in the country. KC is a perfect blend of traditional and contemporary styles, manufactured locally and marketed locally and internationally.
The one-of-a-kind label and official dresser of Miss Africa USA 2009 has graced runways in New York, London, Lagos and Douala with spectacular shows, and earned a UK Black Entertainment, Film, Fashion, Television and Arts (BEFFTA) award nomination for best female designer. It has also enraptured editors at the BBC and SABC, amongst others.
KiRette Couture plans to open an online store and catalogue in Spring 2010.
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Madia Willis – BiriBelle Clothing
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Designed by Madia Willis, BiriBelle is a young women’s clothing line that fuses West African fabrics with vintage and bohemian style. While the Biribelle woman may have a special connection to the African Diaspora through friends and family, history, study, or travel, the cosmopolitan woman who wears BiriBelle is a conscious person who appreciates the beauty and intersection of other cultures in her everyday life.
This appreciation is reflected in her tastes in music, food, friends, fun, and especially in her fashion! BiriBelle clothing grew out of a study abroad trip to Ghana, West Africa in 2003. Hours were spent shopping in the market, looking at yards of colorful fabrics and beads. We learned about how these fabrics were made and the meanings of the adinkra symbols that adorn many of them.
The BiriBelle logo is a derivation of the adinkra symbol hye wonhye (pronounced shay wo en shay). It is a symbol of permanence and can be loosely translated to mean “unburnable.” Incorporated in 2006, BiriBelle will continue to provide the ultimate in Afrochic.
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Adeleke Sijuwade – Olori
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The Nigerian-born designer a.k.a “Leke”, is a former model and the current creator of Adeleke, a men’s line and Olori (princess in Yoruba) Collection for women. The self taught designer has amassed quite a fan base amongst entertainers, stylists and fashionistas due to his intrinsic fashion sense.
His vintage collection has been featured on musicians such as Common, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Nivea and the Dey. His tailored menswear line has been worn by artists such as Raheem Devaughn, Bryan-Michael Cox and Don Omar. Leke has also styled and dressed the dance troupes of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
His clothes and styling have appeared in several publications including the New York Times Style Section, Honey magazine, Harlem World magazine, XXL magazine and the Avenue Report. Adeleke the Collection includes tailored shirts, pants, vests, ties, jackets, coats and shoes.
His Olori Collection uses an eclectic mix of bright colors and patterns from different cultures and eras. The ready-to-wear dresses are incredibly body friendly designed specifically to accentuate a woman’s form. |
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