This article serves as another poignant example as to why I find our emerging contemporary local fashion scene so fascinating — a diverse pool of young designers who successfully manage to channel their personal life narratives into inspiration for their garments. Founded by three misfits, Mphikeleli, Thandekile and Mthunzi, Ixsnay is a creative collaboration which…
“Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos, has one such scene worthy of attention. The local skate scene is on the rise, helped by Motherlan, the new streetwear brand-meets-skate team that’s championing Nigerian skating.” Highsnobiety, 2019. The link between skateboarding, or rather skate culture, and fashion is undeniable; a tie that has only grown from strength to strength…
“Free The Youth” is a space created in 2013 by Jonathan Coffie and Kelly Foli; intended to nurture the burgeoning creativity running as a current beneath the veneer of Accra, Ghana. Streetwear culture’s imprint on the collective consciousness is that of liberation and a commitment to the ever expanding lexicon of relaxed yet luxe garments,…
Modus Vivendii translates to “our way of living” in Latin and was originally formed as a blog showcasing the style of three young Nigerians. They credit Vogue Italia’s late editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani for encouraging the trio to kickstart their brand. Tripin.world While studying in England, Jimmy Ayeni, Ola Badiru, and Anthony Oye began Vivendii as a channel…
Soul’d Dreams is a striking streetwear brand growing out of Zimbabwe. This interview with founder Tadiwa Mashiri conveys the momentum in fashion as a vehicle of expression; turning away from the forced erasure of the rich cultural and historical tapestry at the hands of white supremacy and colonialism. The past, present and future is African;…
The streetwear designer and founder of Crayons, Ra-ees Saiet, has always embraced playfulness and creative freedom as a core stimulant for his capsule collections and collaborative projects. WANTS is the latest colour added to his imaginative box, seizing the opportunity for reflection, regrouping and redirecting presented under lockdown. A celebration of individuality meets up-cycling in…
Matte Brand; the labour of love and brain child of Briana Shaneè Wilson, is an e-commerce fashion retailer “renowned for their bold editorials on social media and even more daring designs”. Born and raised in the South, Wilson who has a background in design and marketing left Texas in 2014 for New York City, concrete…
Pronounced Goo-vay-E-ah, the affluent streetwear brand adopts high fashion modes into its streetwear-infected Autumn/Winter ’20 collection titled Umber9. The creative director, Simon Zikala, of Alexandra Gouveia studied industrial engineering and had planned to obtain a degree in the field but later opted to pursue a different path, however, in the same discipline of product design….
The 90s saw the advent of streetwear rising to the attention of the elusive “fashion” crowds around the planet. A blend of minimalism fused with grunge marked the decade – with Marc Jacobs being fired from Ellis Perry for sending models down the runway in plaid prints and Dr Martens. Shawn Stüssy’s scripted logo, originally…
The fashion scene is one such space where time seems to function in a non-linear manner. With designers having to do the work of continuously looking back at what has been done as a source of inspiration, while simultaneously looking to the future for what is to come next. This non-linear experience of time and…
The dust has barley began to settle on 2020 and the new decade it has ushered in, and yet, we have already been graciously blessed with a socio-cultural read so effortlessly-and-tongue-in-cheekly delivered by director and screenwriter Bong Joon-ho while accepting his award at the Golden Globes this past week for his latest masterful cinematic offering…
Sole DXB– now in its 8th year running -is an annual arts, streetwear and lifestyle festival. This year the festival’s interest focused in on Jamaica and the island country’s rich arts scene. The event ran from 5-7 December in Dubai’s Design District (d3). Synthesising as an all encompassing experience of film screenings, music, fashion and a…
