Fashionista

How to Make It in Fashion: June 21, Dream Hotel Downtown, New York

Monday May 14th, 2012

L’Uomo Vogue‘s May Issue is Dedicated to the ‘Rebranding of Africa’, Features Ban Ki-moon on Cover
Magazines

L’Uomo Vogue‘s May Issue is Dedicated to the ‘Rebranding of Africa’, Features Ban Ki-moon on Cover

L’Uomo Vogue‘s May issue delves into a topic rarely explored by fashion magazines: World politics. In fact, the whole issue is dedicated to the “rebranding of Africa”, and features the unlikely cover star of 67-year-old Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the UN.

According to a press release, the issue will “present a new portrait of an Africa that is positive, creative and confident of its own strengths,” in an effort to shed the continent’s image of war and famine, which is consistently presented by the media. It’s true that those strifes are still a part of Africa’s overall identity, but, as L’Uomo Vogue reaffirms, there’s much, much more to the continent, such as growing textile and oil industries, fledgling modern cities and a fast advancing education system.

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Published at 8:00 PM

Thursday May 10th, 2012

Meet the Young Designers Transforming Africa’s Retail Scene, Part Two: Loza Meleombho
Designers

Meet the Young Designers Transforming Africa’s Retail Scene, Part Two: Loza Meleombho

Earlier this year, our reporter, Zandile Blay, traveled through West Africa to meet some of the talented young designers who are changing Africa’s retail landscape with their chic African-inspired, Western-influenced wears. For the last installment in this series, she shared the story of Jewel by Lisa’s Lisa Folawiyo. Next up: Loza Maleombho of Cote D’Ivoire. Read more →

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Published at 3:45 PM

Friday April 20th, 2012

Meet the Young Designers Transforming Africa’s Retail Scene: Part One
The Business

Meet the Young Designers Transforming Africa’s Retail Scene: Part One

Want a must-have item? If you are living in Africa, that means traveling.

I’m not talking across town to a local mall–but across continents to cities like New York, London, or Paris. For decades, this has been the primary method of acquisitions for fashion-forward Africans who craved Western luxury or contemporary goods. Until recently.

From Algeria to Zimbabwe, a new generation of young designers are quietly changing this reality.

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Published at 5:32 PM