Laquan Smith

Arise fashion week is on full throttle in Lagos and so far It’s been a blast. The designers are wowing and dazzling all the fashionistas, editors and buyers out there. One of the designers showcasing at Arise Nigeria is the amazing Laquan Smith.

Laquan smith is a 21 year old designer form Queens New York and his rise to fame is very interesting.

Laquan had a passion for fashion and at the age of 13 his grandmother passed on her singer machine to him and that was how he enhanced his passion. In 2005 laquan had a tough battle with cancer and won, the strength spurred him on to apply to study fashion in both Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons School of Design but was rejected by both schools. He got his first break by scoring an internship with the prominent Blackbook magazine, he used this opportunity to blag his way into events wearing his own designs and a signature Christian Louboutin heels.

He caught the eyes of fashion publicist Katy Mills and it was through her his pieces found their way into the wardrobes of the top pop stars and celebrities out there.

 He has dressed the likes of Tyra Banks, Rhianna, Nicki Minaj, Cassie just to name a few his designs are very much avant-garde with a hint of punk rock. I look forward to his showcase and many more to come from him.

I respect this young mans hustle and drive it just shows that with hard work and determination impossible is nothing.

Sherie.

Paris Fashion Week

Of all the fashion weeks, Paris is my favourite. PFW gives us avant garde looks - most of which might be utterly unwearable for any normal person, but still awe-insipring. You cant help but marvel at the beauty and then go away with key elements which can be worked into everyday garments.

Below are a selection of my favourite looks from Paris Fashion Week.

Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney - dreamy concoction of a dress. Sheer panelling but beautiful detailing. Uber Sexy but in a classy way.

Chloe - the dreamiest nightgown ever made ;-) Evokes images of a woman running to her lover or for her life in dark dense wood ...

Giambattista Valli - taking prom queens to a whole other level.

Celine - minmalist, no fuss but way to do colour blocking.

Givenchy - way to no sexy geek chic

Galliano - if this doesn't scream luxury, I don't know what does.

Hermes - what all the female galactical troopers will be wearing. Beautiful cuffs though.

Jean Paul Gaultier - how to pull off print on print.

Lanvin - how to work the lace this season.

Lanvin - Beautiful take on statement jewellery.

Dior - marrying impressive attention to detail and Galliano's theatrical flair.

Nina Ricci - The Refined Biker Chic

Balmain - insouciant rocker chic. Oh to be that skinny and that fabulous.

Manish Arora - just cos its crazy.

 Hope you all have a beautiful week!

Republic Of Foreigner Presents 'Birds of Paradise' for Spring/Summer 2011

REPUBLIC OF FOREIGNER (ROF) debuts Spring/Summer 2011 collection entitled ‘Birds of Paradise.’

This collection was strongly inspired by poems from Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1970s film, folksy music and vintage photography. It explores the symbolic image of women as birds—alluring, strong, fragile, elegant, and playful—who function creatively within their environments everyday. 

Using an eclectic blend of dynamic and energetic colours, textures, and silhouettes, we sought to create easy and very wearable clothing that celebrate simplicity, comfort, and movement.

About the Company:

Founded in 2010, REPUBLIC OF FOREIGNER is a Nigerian brand that offers a wide selection of desirable contemporary & vintage inspired ready-to-wear clothing and accessories. Owners, Carmen and Selina Sutherland have been combing the racks, pressing the pleats, and coordinating marketing and sales for ROF since its inception. Learn more at www.intherof.com

Photography: Ighosime Oyofo

Model: Nicole Chukwueke

Styling, make up, art direction: Team ROF

Contact:

ROF Designs Ltd.

pr@intherof.com

www.intherof.com

FDC Young Designer Show Presents the Crème of Young Fresh and New Fashion Talent

Fashion Designers and Craft makers (FDC) Young Designer Show takes place on Saturday 26th March at the Nobel Suite of the Novotel London Hotel St Pancras at 100 -110 Euston Road London NW1 2AJ the event starts at 4pm - 9pm. The gala evening will be hosted by Annaliese Dayes (from Britain’s next top model) and Chyna Desveaux. Selected young designers from all over the UK who have excelled creatively and have the potential to be the next big stars of the international fashion stage will be competing for the coveted Young Designer Award ages 9-25 year and the Radical Collections Award any age over 21 years. A very special showcase at Seattle Fashion Week USA is being offered to one of our 2011 winners.

This year the young designer show participants have also been offered the fantastic opportunity to debut a collection in The Fashion Designers Expo Week based in Florida.

Fashion Designer Expo Florida is an exciting Fashion Week designed to show the world new fashion superstars, showcasing the best emerging talent from all over the world, FDE Florida offers the excitement and exposure that the emerging fashion talent need from extravagant runway shows to lavish parties.

Joanna Marcella the founder of the show and awards says “Our unique selling point is that our events recognises young multicultural design talent and catapults young fashion designers right on to the international fashion stage.”

At the young designer show on the 26 of March a special announcement will be made about fantastic opportunity for a group of designers to take in part in a all denim fashion show in Monte Carlo Monaco. Some on the designer names participating are: Leeanne Ripley-Garrett, Hannah Bloxham, Gbemisola Okunlola, Teresita Auguste, Gabriele Bernotaite, Keni Magma Puplampu, Kanyinsola Onalaja, Temila Jones, Jessy Sakala and Antoinette Oshodi.

Joanna continues “The FDC Young Designer Show and Awards has been growing from strength to strength and our reputation has reached all corners of the globe, any young designer who would to be part of the great project can still apply to come on board providing they have a collection ready to show and they meet all of the other criteria.”

Joanna and her team are looking for designers who have the potential to be future icons like John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen. For entry details, to models sponsor or attend the show contact Joanna Marcella on email:joanna_marcella@hotmail.com or call: +44 (0) 7940 647 102 / +44 (0) 20 8986 8411.

 

THE WORLD OF MAKE-BELIEVE

Suby back in da FAB House.

I am still as always Fabulous.African.Black. It has been a long and successful week for myself and the FAB Team. We finally see a huge dream of our come true, FAB Magazine is now sold in 1000+ stores across the UK - huge milestone for us to be sold besides such magazines as Vogue and Elle. Please go out there and buy your copy. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

Now shameless plug over and done with, my blog today is all about demystifying this belief some people may have that images & people are born and made perfect. Sorry folks, we live in the world of make-belief; the world of fashion is the biggest “make-believer” of them all. 

We (try to) sell you perfection on every page we present, whether it be a small editing change, or a drastic rebuild of a face, a smile, or the scenery. We do this in order to fundamentally get you to like, so you can be influenced to buy what we are showcasing. Let's not be naive here, you would not buy a car or house that was not presented to perfection, so why should one think you would buy a jacket that pot bellied Suby is modelling? No we sell you Perfection for a reason.

For those of you who feel that they have to be like the images they see in magazines, enjoy the show (Once again: it's ALL make-believe. WAKE UP!), for those who wonder how the original images looked like, have a field day thinking, "Why can’t they get it right in-camera?” (NOT POSSIBLE to create some certain effects in-camera), for those of you who want to bask in mine (and Sinem’s) awesomeness, feel free to go "AWESOME" & "FAB!" at viewing most of the images. 

Let  the “drama” begin:

Subtle lighting and skin clean:

Sepia toning to add more drama:

Even more drama added for more definition:

Now that’s what we call drama! I would buy whatever is being sold here:

Cleaning up skin and making teeth “more perfect” :) Well you would not buy lipstick or toothpaste after seeing an image that was not perfect, would you?

Now this is all about the dress, the background highlightened now just makes it look even more 'phhppoooaaarr'. (Refer to www.kosibah.co.uk for those of you who dream of looking this 'phwoooaarrr.' Disclaimer: there may be a little… ok a lot of exercise also involved here)

Catwalk or concert images sometimes need a little bit of help in showing the drama:

I end this blog with one of my favourite image shot about 1.5 years ago. It just reminds me of how proud we as Africans should be at the beauty of not only ourselves, but our continent. I wish we took more pride in being black and strive even more to be the best at what we do.

Nigerians, today is the last day for you all to register to vote, I really do hope you/we all have registered as the future is literally in “all your/our hands”. DON’T SELL OUT (you know what I mean here).

P.s

Someone once asked how Sinem & I shoot together, we actually do shoot simultaneously at most shoots, don’t know how we do it, but we seem to have perfected the art, and we have the proof here (lol):

P.p.s

Welcome back to Nigeria from a hard business trip to Asia our publisher, Fab, goodbye to him on Monday as he is once again off to New York Fashion week. Safe trip, bro.

SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH BUYING NIGERIAN?

TAYO IN THE FAB HOUSE

Hello my FAB people,

So being my first blog, I pondered on what to share and the one thing that kept recurring in conversations, meetings, shoots was the “Buy Nigerian Campaign”. So the “Buy Nigerian Campaign” is a www.stylehouefiles initiative encouraging consumer culture in Nigeria and supporting locally made goods and I must say that they get my vote a 100%.

ITUEN BASI

So we all know that there is no money in the fashion industry - or is there? Most “creatives” are driven by their passion and making money usually takes second place. But then having said that, this is a multi-billion dollar industry that has made some people very very rich. We Nigerians play a large part as research shows that we are listed as one of the top five spenders on Bond Street and Selfridges in London. So why do we not spend on our fashion at home?

AIMAS

There have been several debates on the issue; some being extremely supportive of the initiative while others just think it a waste of time.  So yesterday, I was having a chat with one of my favourite Nigerian designers who truly flies the Nigerian flag high with her creative genius and her attention to detail.  We were speaking on the quality and the finishing of products made in Nigeria and how it is difficult to compete on the international scene with such badly produced goods. Then the suggestion of producing abroad in other low-income countries came up and it made me think if that would still be considered “Nigerian”?

ZASHADU

The whole idea of this campaign is to improve the industry here, which includes design, production, distribution, quality control, finishing etc so the reality of the project became apparent. I thought to myself what makes Nigerians different from Chinese, Indians or Turks? Is it our mindset? Is it our lack of integrity? Is it our poor work ethics? Because if you really think about it, there is absolutely no excuse for Nigerians producing sub standard goods to a bunch of fashion savvy people. So while I am super excited about the campaign, I know that we still have a long way to go!!!