African Fashion Week
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Though the African fashion week ended on the 3rd of July we have just had a look at some of the interesting , there were a number of very interesting shows, however one of the standout shows was that of the South African designer David Tlale, this young man has consistently produced stytlish and creative designs , while Deola Sagoe seemed to produce a standard set of signature dresses though not as edgy as David’s. Xuly Bet produced another set of designs in mono colour. Black was the sum total of these set of designs that where potentially eye catching including, overall it was a good show and a lot of the designers turned up and delivered, there is one area though that I believe might need to be addressed going forward and that is the area of Indigenous Styling ; this concept refers to styles that have been perpetuated for quite a few decades and in some case a few years centures, these creations where as a 
result of fashion and functionality, the usual style of the modern interpretation of 
African fashion are catwalk concepts infused with fabrics used by africans such as these wonderful pieces by Koketso Chiepe and Christie Brown, right and left, but it will be nice to take a concept like BUBA and IRO (a Yoruba traditional style for women in the west of Nigeria) and use it a concept to create different designs.
materials of the world is an Adidas brain child , forever the forward thinkers they produced a range of different material shoes modelled in their image one such range was the gazelle and they numbered 500 pairs only, as the fable goes, well at least in the LAND OF THE SNEAKER, however the material used for the Gazelle was the Vlisco (Hollandis) a lot of them looked okay but if I had to design them I would probably us the material sparingly to add value as opposed to an entire base judge for yourself here are some of the entries above and below.
Vlisco over the years have brought us a lot of fantastic and unique pattern designs, and if the truth be told the African fashion scene and the interests that have began to show up in world fashion. Now the Vlisco brand have decided to go one step further and enter into the bag accessorie with set of designs called HAUTE MAROQUINERIE the picture on the left is a tote bag with a cotton wax print laminated with a clear PVC film which not only enhances the souplesse of the material but protects it thereby making this bag unique when viewed through the different looks of the specific Vlisco flower prints. While in the shawl accessory market with a 100 % silk shawl they have called MAMA . It’s a known fact that the accessories market is big business and its quite exciting to see how Vlisco intends to enhance the spark in a trendthat is African fashion, in what is a very crowded accessories market, but one that is begging for something totally different. I have always felt that trends are seasonal and cyclical, but style is continuous and morphs, in general different parts of the globe have their own style and colours though there is a lot of overlap distinctions are highlighted as opposed to parallels, this will not be the first attempt at using this fabric to create accessories, but I hope it is about to become the most visible and sustained and with the clout and financial backing of this print design company I would expect that in some part of the global fashion establishment you might be seeing the birth of a sub-genre in the accessory market which will be aligned with our distinct African style.
June 2010, Johannesburg – African designers from all over the world are jetting in to showcase their Trans seasonal 2010 collections at the Sandton Convention Centre during Africa Fashion Week which starts on June 30, only days before the FIFA 2010 World Cup Quarter Finals.
Sarah Burton, has a large pair of shoes to fill in becoming the creative director of the brand. The parent company Gucci Group which owns 51% of the McQueen brand, announced that Burton will supervise the creative direction and development of all collections of the brand going forwards. Burton, 35, was born in Manchester, began working for the late designer, in 1996, while she was in her final year at Central St. Martins – McQueen’s own alma mater. She was appointed head of women’s wear design in 2000, and was working closely with the designer right up until his untimely death by suicide, in February. due to this she probably knows McQueen professionaly as well as anyone as she worked wit him for 14 years. we wish her the best of luck but she might not need it, as she is as safe a pair of hands as the brand could get.
left but in another breadth he produced the resort collection which looked like a ready to wear collection right . I will be unable to produce a 
detailed picture of his life but I will dip briefly into the scope and the breadth of what was an immeresurably astute and talented business individual. In the same season he could produce 3 different styles this guy was hard working and on his game. McQueen also worked with the stars big and small and this is another stand out feature of this designer, mostly we get very used to seeing only a particular type of physique however did not have any such hangups, he delved into different inspirations and showed his aspirations in his varied collections and his outlandish and ostentatiously styled shows. Indeed in watching some of his shows like his Atlantis 2010 fashion show the clothes and the show formed the entire concept transporting you both physically and mentally on a journey to the lost world. Not satisfied with being pigeonholed he also has a range with Puma, according to McQueen its a Tiger vs Crane concept sounds like an old Kung Fu movie. The concept combines technology and tradition with a number of well designed figures and from afar it looks simple enough but up close the true intricacy and detail of each piece grip you in true McQueen style. Below are some of the images left Beyonce, middle Beth Ditto and right Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper. His full impact on the fashion industry will be known over the next 5 to 10 years but one thing I do know is we will not see another master of concept, colour and cut as McQueen was, at least not in the foreseeable future.
It seems that there are a lot of collaborations with J Brand at present. A few months back, Proenza Schouler designed a set of jeans with them . Just as in 2009 when Hussein Chalayan and J Brand ex-creative director and co owner Susie Crippen the other owner being Jeff Rudes, collaborated on a denim line, in decribing thier concept they explained that their real mission, was to make the avant-garde accessible. Said Hussein “denim rescues everything” , as he proceeded to explain that its a confidence boosting rescue, “its the joker card of your wardrobe”, looking at the position that he operates from and because of his avant-garde status Hussein is almost unreachable but the collaboration worked because being accesible as an avantgarde he was able to change the dynamics of the relationship between the designer and the wearer. As a result this collaboration gave both parties the chance to expand their markets with a little inflence from each other. In the 2010 Collaboration Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez explained they were exploring the idea of uniforms with their fall collection and couldn’t ignore denim’s ubiquity in most people’s wardrobe. . Each pair was printed with a graphic black and white graffiti print, which is hand-pained over to create texture. with some of these very astute collaborations it will be interesting to see how well J Brand label expands its customer base.
Not quite, but the English-eccentric label has ceased trading with long-term financial backer Club 21, which pulled its support for Luella. VSQ, a Club 21 subsidiary, decided “not to invest further in its relationship with Luella Bartley Limited” after Luella’s ready-to-wear manufacturer, Carla Carini, closed unexpectedly last month, leaving Spring/Sumer 2010 orders unable to be fulfilled.
This attentive, affectionate portrait, by Matt Tyrnauer which traces the final year of the designer’s career, shows that it’s good to be the king. Valentino is the creative wellspring, the man whose intricate demands have to be satisfied. And he is not easily satisfied. One of the last designers whose couture was handmade — his assistants, one of his backers noted, never touched a sewing machine — he relies on his invisible artists, the seamstresses of northern Italy, for the anachronistic grace of his frocks. He designs the dresses; they make them. Antonietta de Angelis, the head seamstress of the house, has some of her boss’s imperious temperament. She knows that anything less than perfection is unacceptable, for a master who keeps wanting to improve on it. After designing a perfect white dress, a symphony of subtle movement, he ponders his creation and announces, “But some sequins can’t hurt.” Says Valentino Garavani “I know what women want,” “They want to be beautiful.” But the question any couturier must answer is, What kind of beautiful do they want to be?