Introducing Boxing Kitten

Designer Maya Lake in one of her dresses.

In keeping with the African and vintage-inspired theme, I thought I should highlight designer, Maya Lake who is the brain-child behind Boxing Kitten. You may recognize her designs from Beyonce and Alicia Key's upcoming video "Put It In A Love Song" and Rihanna's video for "Rude Boy." Other celebrity fans include Fatima Robinson, Solange Knowles, Fergie and Erykah Badu. I love the uniqueness their pieces but be prepared to pay between $50 - $270. You can view the entire line at www.boxingkitten.com.

ASOS Launches Africa Line

ASOS AFRICA Printed Tie Waist Shorts, $68.38

ASOS AFRICA Printed Jumpsuit, $128.21

My favorite U.K. online store for about 9 yrs now recently launched an African inspired line. I've been shopping at ASOS since it was pretty basic but I love how they've evolved over the years and become a force to be reckoned with. This latest line mixes ethnic prints and vivid colors with contemporary shapes. Now I must admit, you could probably get and African relative to buy the fabric pretty cheap and have these styles made for half the price, but if you don't have that "African connection" then ASOS is ideal for you. Click here to see the full collection.

Bernos.Org

Above & Below: Models wearing the Bernos range of t-shirts available at www.bernos.org.

Now that summer is in full swing I never seem to have enough tees. If you're anything like me, even your t-shirts have to make a fashion statement. Enter Bernos. Bernos is an innovative clothing company that creates high-quality, eye-catching t-shirts featuring African themes. The word "Bernos" is taken from an Amharic word referring to a one-piece cloak. The heavy wool “bernoose” was standard dress for Arabs who immigrated to North Africa and many in Northwest Africa wear variations of the original design today.

I believe the Bernos founders all hail from Ethopia, hence the African-influenced designs. On average, t-shirts cost just $20. Visit www.bernos.org to browse their full range of t-shirts for women and men.

Runway Africa: Celebrating African Fashion

Be sure to buy your tickets to Runway Africa’s annual event this weekend. Celebrating African Fashion, this event is sure to be the talk of the D.C. come Monday. You can’t buy tickets at the door so get them ASAP. Ticket options include: $85.00 VIP Tickets (includes invitation to the red carpet reception, reserved upfront seats, VIP access to the After Party and invitation Harriet’s Alter Ego Trunk Show - Sunday, September 16 receive 20% off on fall collection and a free gift if you spend $150.00 or more - ticket holders must present RA VIP ticket in order to receive savings, VIP gift bag, and mini magazine). $60.00 Guaranteed Seating Tickets (complimentary access to the after party (not within the VIP area), guest gift bag, and mini magazine). $40.00 General Admission Tickets (includes admission to the event. Standing room only! ). For more info visit Runway Africa

When: Saturday September 15th, 2007
Time: 6pm for VIP ticket holders; 8pm for Fashion Show
Where: The Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Road, N.W. Washington D.C. 20007
Contact: info@runwayafrica.com

Runway Africa

Runway Africa: I movement dedicated to showcasing, promoting and exposing African designers to the masses. According to their site,

“Runway Africa believes strongly that by exposing African designers to the global market, Africa (as a whole) will begin to see a change in each country's economic and social agendas. By stimulating growth in the textile and garment industries, Africa can begin to see some economic stability in those areas. In essence, this kind of mass exposure puts the continent's talent and creativity in global markets and increases the ability to manufacture apparel deriving from Africa.”

Sounds good so far but how do they plan on doing it? Well, they hold a series of events, mainly on the east coast, to highlight specific designers and raise money for a cause. Their next event is being held tonight at Posh in DC and presents Harreit’s Alter Ego designer and creator, Ngozi Odita. The event is in celebration of African Women’s Day and the money raised will go towards Keep A Child Alive.

The main event takes place this September. Runway Africa 2007 will be held in D.C. at the Embassy of France. Designers Ruby (South Africa), Sika Designs (Ghana), Bezeymailan (Togo), Blokes ‘n’ Divas (Nigeria) and Harriet’s Alter Ego (Nigeria) will all showcase their “Africhic” lines at what will be one of the events of the year. Visit http://www.runwayafrica.com/ for more details.

Photos from past Runway Africa Events.

Cross Over to the Dark Side…

Themba Mngomezulu, the designer behind the label 'Darkie.'Photos from Darkie's fashion shows. One from a recent Levi's Show (first left) and the other three from South African Fashion Week, 2004/05.

South African fashion is so overlooked it borders on ridiculous. Fear not, while surfing the net I found an essential web site for those who are interested in keeping up-to-date with urban culture, lifestyle and general news in Joannesburg, Cape Town and other cities. There may be better sites out there but I quite like this one called Rage. While on the site I read about an emerging fashion guru called Themba Mngomezulu who designs for "Darkie," the label he founded in 2002. Themba credits his mother for his initial interest in fashion. She would trade second hand clothing from their garage and he still buys items from her to this day. With fashion in his veins, Themba moved to Cape Town in 2004 to fully realize his dream and with the help of his new partner, Azaad Carrim, Themba now runs a design house with 25 employees. He says of his design aesthetic:

‘We’re a fast-forward brand. We like to design both locally and globally. We’re a South African design team and we’re creating our Darkie style. We try not to focus solely on the international influences because they don’t understand our style. South Africa has an amazing 11 different cultures and that inspires us every day.’

Darkie is primarily a sportswear/lifestyle label. Many of their t-shirts feature cultural icons such as Muhammad Ali, Ray Charles and Nelson Mandela and their favortie material of choice seems to be denim. You can read more about Themba here. I’ve yet to find a web site but I’ll keep you posted ;)