It was indeed time for Africa, as Shakira provided the soundtrack to the collection opening the Nigeria Fashion Show at the Dubai Fashion Fiesta on Friday.
The West African nation boasts a well-established fashion scene, built on a history in textiles dating back centuries, making Nigeria a perfect candidate to add to the diversity organisers of the event want to bring to the fashion scene here. (It probably also helps that one of the sponsors is involved in fashion shows in the African nation.)
Each designer showed only five pieces, which made for heavily-curated collections — some more successful than others — as the Nigeria Fashion Week designers sought to bowl over fashion insiders here.
House of Farrah
An expansive collection was sent down the catwalk to the sound of Shakira's Waka Waka, featuring a bubble dress and military jacket combo followed by a longer sheath-like skirt in striking red and black. A gold statement piece followed, the vehicle for the en vogue ruffled shoulder look.
Creative Director Fatima Aliyu Garba then showed her bespoke tailoring experience using fine bead work as embellishment. "Everything's hand-made," she said after the show, wearing a jacket of her own design. "From the painting to the bead work."
She made extensive use of raw silk, taffeta and aso oke, an African fabric. "My mantra is classic, timeless and elegant," she said, and walked the talk with her final garment — a black dress with painted details and contrasting texture on the midriff and arms.
Rouge Designs
There was no mistaking Chichi Iyiegbuniwe's clientele as Beyoncé's Diva blasted through the sound system propelling models adorned with tiny fascinators down the ramp.
The dresses were bold, the colours seemed to jump off the material and the folds were intricate, sharp and very hip. "I love form and structure," she confirmed afterwards. "I also find the rich vintage of the '50s and '60s fabulous, but for this collection I was inspired by the '40s.
"I tend to go crazy with colour, and I tend to take risks — designing's an adventure, you evolve as you go along."
It's no surprise that it's Dubai's structure that caught her eye. "There's a braveness to the architecture I find inspiring."
Reedas
Creative Director Rukkayah Mohammad Sulaiman celebrated the Victorian era with a collection that started off in dramatic fashion with a cape billowing behind the model wearing pants that hugged her calves. The second item was as interesting, featuring a velvet skirt and jacket with simplistic and elegant bow detail on the lower back.
With Mama Cass belting out Dream A Little Dream, the collection then descended a tad too far into the realm of the masked-ball: layers upon layers, bum ruffles, feathers and the requisite velvet and lace that had one questioning the practicality of the pieces, both in the West African country Sulaiman hails from and here in the Middle East.
CharlSawyerr
Charles Sawyerr's collection was distinctly African, with the greens and browns on the endless African plains a clear reference point. "The African environment is my biggest inspiration," he confirmed. "It's plants, colours and vegetation."
Combining African fabric and Western designs, he employs colours strategically, like in the orange hem, wrist detail and popped collar on a lime green dress.
Younass Collection
Designer Soraya Adji's nomadic heritage is evident in a collection that started and ended with Eastern influences with a pit-stop in Europe via Africa through animal print. A varied collection, some of the key elements were bead work, asymmetric shoulders, ruffles and African fabric.
O'Godor
Using native Nigerian fabrics, designer Ifeoma sent a variation on the mermaid dress down the ramp, one in green dissecting the model vertically. A shorter version, in red, continued this idea, before she sent out more floral-inspired looks of pinks on coppers with oversized bows on the behind. With Lady Gaga's Bad Romance playing, one dress was a not-too-subtle nod to that artist a silver futuristic take on what Saturn's rings would look like around one's waist.
Rocky S
Dubai Fashion Fiesta may not have been a trendsetting event, but the organisers kept with the annoying trend of Dubai fashion shows starting late. The grand finale by Indian designer Rocky S, which began an hour late, could have doubled up as bride show. Heavily-embellished lehengas (full skirts) teamed with halter-neck cholis (blouses) dominated his collections. Saris — in olive green and dull burgundy — with brocaded detailing were also the mainstay.
"This collection is for global Indian women who love ethnic clothes with modern touches. The silhouettes are edgy but I was careful not to go over-the-top with colours," says Rocky S. But surprisingly, unlike his signature style, there wasn't a Bollywood showstopper.
"Everybody expects me to bring a Bollywood celebrity. But I wanted my clothes to take centre stage this time," he says.
-- Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Staff Reporter
