As always I always have to start my post with a little definition...
Tribal :
of or characteristic of a tribe or tribes.
* characterised by or reflecting strong group loyalty.
Archives:
a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.
It’s undeniable that African fashion, boosted by the trendiness of wax print, has had a more than positive turn in recent years. Lately, it’s been featured in top fashion magazines and even worn by our favourite celebrities.
But if a craving for African prints is on the rise all i can do as an African is thank Globalisation and social media. It does leaving me thinking that the rest of the fashion world is more accepting of our tribal prints than most Africans living in a western society, for example the minute Gucci or Valentino brings out anything that's remarkably African or tribal; I see people turning to these luxury designers for their piece of African when in reality some have an Auntie who is a tailor.
When I was given the project to create and style a look book for Soboye Boutique, I immediately felt intimidated by the thought of working with just African. I mean growing up in Zimbabwe we rarely wore, well let me say ' I rarely ever wore African wax print' or anything that might be considered traditional. So I didn't have any archives or any nostalgic moments.
Not Only does Soboye boutique is about showcasing products that are craft based and also hand-made; with their love for southern african beading to authnetic Indian embroidery and my personal favourite they recycle their cut off fabrics and turn them into head scarfs and tote bags.
An Important Factor for me is brands that work to give back to developing countries.
When speaking to the designer Samson Soboye about his influences, how he designs his collections - which by the way he doesn't design a collection he makes items as he goes along from what he loves in the very moment. Thinking about it now who actually still makes a collection and sticks by it. With their website launching soon, it was a perfect time for me to come and be the breath of fresh that I am, by giving the current Soboye collection a complex decisions twist.
MOOD BOARD & STYLING TIPS
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| NOT MY PICTURES |
This is a rough mood board of where I wanted my shoot to go.
Wanted to embody African face art not exactly like the Valentino Ss16 campaign but in a softer ready to wear look.
Whenever you add denim to a look it automatically makes it casual but this season ready to wear is all for street wear, basic fabrics the t-shirts paired with a cigarette pant and a court shoe, so why not do that with African print. This shoot I wanted to steer far away from the Coachella's but stay editorial with a hint of street style meets Africa.
Met GALA 2016 Balmain Army- literally embodied the body-conscious and the attention to detail with the heavy Kanye West sequined bomber.
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| NOT MY PICTURE |
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| NOT MY PICTURE |
While in the flow of street wear brands, Kanye took us all down the route of remembering how important a basic is for all of outfits.
See you in my next post...
Complex | Decisions
