Lately, it seems everyone and their cat is ‘into fashion’; whether it is posting selfies of their latest purchases from ‘the abroad’ (London, New York, Paris, Milan and er Dubai!) or moving around their office corridors like it is their very own catwalk, people feel they can have a voice, join in and add important points to the  discussion. And let’s not get it twisted; this is good news. No-one should have a monopoly on looking, or being interested in looking amazing, and we should all feel that we can participate.

But then as with all things there are the pioneers. The individuals who set the pace, turned things around, made things happen and raised the bar. And certainly no roll-call of successful fashion designers who hail from Africa can be complete without mentioning Lisa Folawiyo. What sets Lisa apart from many of her contemporaries is she lives and breathes fashion too, expressing it in her personal clothing choices by patronizing and wearing the very best from designers in Europe and America. A quick scroll through her Instagram page attests to a woman whose eclectic and curatorial eye has seen her rock looks that are to-die-for, okay maybe we are speaking too rashly, to-pray-and-fast-earnestly-for. Suffice to say the question is not if but rather when MOMA will finally do an exhibition of her insane wardrobe!

We were delighted to chat with Lisa last week ahead of her presentation in New York Fashion Week; and because this is MO and we are inherently a tad nosey find out more about the stylish woman behind one of Africa’s most iconic brands.

 

MO: Why have you chosen to show at New York Fashion Week?

 LF: I’ve always felt a strong fashion connection to New York. It moves to the Lisa Folawiyo rhythm I like to think. We had shown there a few seasons ago and the collection was very well received. After a short break, it only made sense that NY was where we would once again show.

 

MO: Tell us a little bit about the inspiration or SS17 Lisa Folawiyo Studio?

LF: The SS17 collection coined ‘She wears his heart on her sleeve’ was inspired by modern romance. Two intertwined hearts, his and hers. A muddling of their feelings and emotions. The passion, their confusion, the magic, the lust, lost in one another, and the love! The collection sees a successful translation of the classic men’s tuxedo into strong feminine modern silhouettes.  The use of his details such as the cummerbund, bow tie and pocket square become her details as they are transformed into colourful ribbon strip details placed across her décolletage, her hips and her shoulders. The bow ties as miniature bows forming pretty little dress details, the pocket squares as structured folds. And with the hand stitched falling pailettes, she dances as she moves. The clashing of the flaming hearts and roses and keys prints and the mixing of textures further describes them. Him and her. And as each piece unfolds, the story is told leaving you with your fill of a spirited collection with a fashion forward edge!

 

MO: You recently celebrated 10 years in business; do you see yourself as a heritage brand now in the African fashion scene and how would you say the industry has evolved?

LF: I definitely think 10 years in business deserves some sort of applause, but we still have so much to achieve and there is still so much I want to achieve. So yes, I could say we are one of Nigeria’s foremost heritage brands.

 

The industry has evolved in leaps and bounds from when I was just starting 10 years ago. A lot of the platforms and opportunities available for new and emerging designers were not available in those early years. We had to really push for the success of our brands. More recently, African Fashion has become part of global fashion in the sense that African designers have begun to have a say in global fashion. I really can’t wait to see how it evolves further.

 

MO: Do you have a style signature and if so what are the do’s and don’ts for you?

LF:  Jeans, jeans and more jeans!  My style is quite laid back. I like to be comfortable. I tend to go for very simple but well detailed pieces. I also have a thing for interesting accessories. You can never have enough shoes and bags, can you?

 

LF Dos:

• Invest in interesting and collectible pieces(handbags, shoes and other accessories)

• Prints – clash them, match them.

• It’s ok to dabble in trend every now and then, however, stick to the timeless pieces.

• I prefer minimal jewelry, costume or fine.

• Clothes should fit right, well-tailored and always well laundered.

• If all else fails, wear the jeans and throw on the sunglasses.

 

LF Don’ts:

• A beat face for every day.

• Bad shoes

• Fine jewelry sets for every day.

• Over accessorizing

 

MO: Who is the Lisa Folawiyo woman? Are there any women you have enjoyed dressing and would love to?

LF: The LF woman is a fashion enthusiast even if she doesn’t know it. She is self-assured, exuberant, worldly, and never gets old. She travels in motion and in mind and embraces life fully as she does so.

 

Seeing Lucy Liu in one of my pieces was very exciting. Faith Haslem was a joy too. Tamu McPherson looks divine in LF. I’d love to dress Fashion’s current darling, Lupita Nyong’o. We recently sent some pieces to her, so fingers crossed!

 

The future does indeed look super-nova bright for Lisa Folawiyo: the international press and style cognoscenti  have certainly caught onto her and she is no longer every Nigerian lady’s best kept style secret (the team here at MO have enjoyed the shock and awe factor of rocking LF amid a sea of Aso-ebi Balmain Army and Burberry Prorsum twins!). But in spite of the plaudits, attention and uber-fans on the ‘gram, Lisa and her team continue doing what they do best, which is creating beautiful pieces for their ever growing legion of fans.

There’s more at www.lisafolawiyo.com

 

 

 

Once upon a time in the days of trousseaus and tiaras a stylish woman was expected to look impeccable and chic at all times. Not thrown together, mussed up bed hair and last evening’s kohl still rimming one’s eyes and the scent of another on one’s cheek chic. But perfect. In a draw dropping, I could stare at you for days-and-days kind of way. The genius of  Josep Font’s collection for Delpozo is that it not only delivers on the premise of making a woman look kind of perfect, but it does so in a modern, vibrant, clever way. Let’s call it impossibly modern but chic ultra!

The big story in this collection is the dance between texture and structure, and oh, how they waltz. The opening look which featured a cropped white blouse that was reminiscent of the most intricate origami was teamed with a full midi skirt in buttercup yellow and cornflower blue and set the tone which saw Font play with volume and structure in the entire collection.

Sandals were flat, earrings were maxi chandelier-cuffs in multi-coloured sequins and handbags were transparent. This was not a look for a woman who stuffs clutter into each section of her purse and hopes for the best.

Among the plethora of wow moments was an improbably demure but still sexy dress that featured a sheer full overskirt which revealed a shorter one in a brighter hue. The sleeves and bodice were opaque and more folds pleats and sculptural silhouettes were teased out of  other skirts and dresses.

The overall look was wearable art but because the fabrics were so light, a combination of gossamer light cottons, linens and silks it gave the impression of a woman who wafts from one beautiful moment to the next. Bad things simply do not happen to women wearing Delpozo

 

The clothes were not all one note palette wise. Font injected a rich dose of burnt orange and teamed it, haute couture style, although (Praise God) at prêt-à-porter prices, with pale pink blue and teal. Evening pieces came festooned with a scattering of applique….

And shirts  had raffia ruffles….

The former architecture student, in this collection has truly mastered the art of making the conceptual truly covetable.

Back here at MO towers we are dreaming of the following additional looks finding their way if not into our own closets but into the super stylish of Lagos. As the saying goes, don’t hate, appreciate.

 

There’s more at www.delpozo.com

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom it was the age of foolishness. Charles Dickens we acknowledge the lyrics swipe, but we couldn’t begin this style critique without framing it thus. Toronto International Film Festival saw two super-memorable looks on the red carpet. One that had us whooping and screaming and dipping low like we were a video vixen and another that just had us in complete sad face mode. Like, pressing the one emoji so hard it became three rows on the phone screen of relentless unhappiness. We are talking Rita Dominic in Lisa Folawiyo Studio at the ’76 premiere (for our cheers) and Lupita Nyong’o in House of Herrera and a head tie at the Queen of Katwe premiere (for our still hot tears).
In the spirit of poso vibes front and centre always let’s talk through the look we LOVED. Rita Dominic has been having a purple patch of late…as in consistently looking off the chart hot whenever she is on the red carpet. We loved the fact that she rocked Naija for Toronto and that she wore custom Lisa Folawiyo Studio at that. Rita has attended a gazillion and one events but in this picture below you can almost hear her causing a commotion, sashaying in cascading jumbo- paillettes, that swish as she moves, the light catching on any reflective surface and bouncing off the camera lens. And what of the super femme bodice? Her hourglass old-school Hollywood Glamour figure encased in a vibrant heart shaped print that is sequined up to her bustline, the colour singing against her skin, her waist nipped and the peplum hinting at the all-round va-va-voomness of her? A special note to hair and make-up which was inspired; and to think we normally get so perturbed at MO towers by hair and makeup in Naija with the scary go-large-or-go-home element that often takes over! We LOVED the blue shadow, the nude with a hint of pink lip and the side sweep up-do. Rita you ‘repped big time! In fact so much so that we had to show the look in duplicate!

Lupita on the other hand…Jesus wept. The colour… yes, Darker Black Lady On the Red Carpet 101 dictates that a full-on colour is going to pop louder than a magnum of Krug on your skin tone. And a column dress when you are doing the needful and staying in shape will work in theory, BUT there are all kinds of wrong here. Made sadder because this is a woman who has KILLED AND SLAUGHTERED fashion royalty on the Red Carpet before. There is something ‘old’ about the bodice work (yellow and ultramarine is so passé-composé as a colour combo). But what really bothered us at MO was the head-tie. It was so ‘Coming to America’ version of Africa. Speaking from Lagos, for roughly $3 (or maybe $30 for ‘Auntie Bisi based in Toronto’), she could have had that gele tied properly. I wager that whoever created the monstrosity masquerading as a gele was not an Auntie Bisi! The thing is, a poorly tied gele is like a black chick plonking one of the Queen’s tiaras on an uncombed Afro at a jaunty with some of the diamond florets not even showing, and thinking boom! Buckingham Palace here I come! Added to which anyone in Lagos knows that gele with an evening gown is O to the V to the E to the R as a look. We stopped rocking this in the summer of 2009. But then one can almost hear the stylist speaking: ‘Hey, the movie is called Queen of Katwe, so let’s make you look like you know, a Queen.” Note to the stylist, us lot in East Africa (I am from there and the film is set there too) do not rock gele be us queens or not, and when we do, we get a West African professional to sort it out for us. And as for the clashing brick-red(ish) lip, less said soonest mended.

It must be so tough looking on point consistently on the Red Carpet, but it always works best when you do you. One gets the impression that Rita rocked her outfit whilst the concept of ‘headtie with everything’ that Lupita did throughout the festival, rocked her. Subsequently she looked more in costume rather than in control. And at MO Towers we are all about championing the powerful sensational African woman! Sack the stylist Lupita, remember that Prada high season (Oscar Night, Met Gala) which was everything. And as for Rita, you are officially MO’s reigning WCW the actor edition, keep serving us the magic moments and give your stylist a raise!

My favourite cocktail has always been the French 75 – yes it’s old-school but I challenge any mixologist to top the ambrosial magic that is champagne, gin, lemon juice and gomme syrup. But dream drinks aside, I couldn’t help but think that if I were to describe the Tom Ford presentation it was a glorious combo of OG supermodels in the audience (all hail Iman, Naomi and Cindy!), Hollywood A-Listers and because it is Mr. Ford and he is a legend in his lifetime a carefully selected current supernovas – and that’s just the guest=list!

I was loving Tom’s thesis of showing Autumn/Winter 2016 in er, Autumn/Winter 2016! How novel, no need for the sick pieces to be pinned on Pinterest or act as a prayer point for a dim and distant future – see it now, want it now, buy it now. Many in the fashion industry are wondering whether this is a risky game to play – no months of carefully revved-up by fashion editorial customers who have seen things in glossies, ogled items on movie stars (always ahead of the civilians, be they minted or not) and lusted until the long awaited product drop. Only time and shop tills will tell if this is a wise move but for us at Magnus Oculus the idea of I see it – I need it – I must have it – appeals to our ‘big-eye’ tendencies!

Onto the clothes: Only grown-ups allowed. These are not items for ingénues. Only strong, sexy as hell, lived and still triumphed women can wear these pieces and be convincing. The silhouette of the opening day dresses, skirts and jackets had shades of 1940’s couture about them, we are talking over the knee, pencil with super-cinched waists.

The rich velvets and leathers they came in were luxury with a capital L. The 21^st century was injected in over the knee spray on boots and a covetable array of coats that made the phrase ‘investment piece, buy one only’ seem like a curse rather than mantra, because frankly, you need them all. The real cha-cha-cha moments came with evening wear, always Tom’s forte even in those Gucci 90s days. Floor length was re-imagined with palettes for the inner disco girl in us all and a plumed showstopper skirt was gloriously casual-fied in a maximalist manner with a silver sequined sweater that had an open back. Cut aways, again a Tom trademark, were subtle; this was not’ a pay and display’ flesh fest and the models glided confidently to a soundtrack that included Alicia Keys and K.D. Lang. #TBT models Amber Valetta, Carolyn Murphy and Liya Kebede were the edible gold leaf on this already exquisite and decadent confection of a collection and the addition of bright young things Gigi Hadid and Binx Walton on the catwalk proved Tom had lost none of his mastery of intuiting the moment and serving it back to us as we would like to see it in our dreams.

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It’s suitable for travel, business trip, home or company/college.Constructed with 1500mAh rechargeable Lithum battery, once fully charge it can last up to 14 days.With cordless and water tank design, the water flosser can follow you to everywhere. You could just use a USB cable(Universal 5V USB cable is packaged) to charge for the water flosser.

Every fashion week brings with it it’s ones to watch and it’s social media frenzy moments, controversies and trends, but when you are Tom the old school model of covetable clothes + glamourous guest-list is all that is really needed.

 

It’s no secret the global fashion industry struggles with diversity – specifically when it comes to showcasing fuller body types and even models with darker skin tones. But somehow, everyone’s favourite controversial rapper turned fashion designer, Kanye West, has been able pull off what many others have failed to – but not without a little controversy – it is Kanye after all.

On September 7, 2016 Kanye premiered his ‘YEEZY SEASON 4’ line at Roosevelt Island. In true Yeezy fashion, the invitations were not sent out until the morning of the show, attendees were taken to the show on a chartered bus and were left waiting until the show started, which ran 90 minutes behind schedule. The NY summer sun dehydrated some of the models left standing in their attire, with some even collapsing from the heat. But while the show’s organisation might have been a bit of a fail, the actual clothing was not.

 

 

 

The fashion was everything we expected from Kanye and more; the clothing embodied everything Kanye had been teasing us with for the last few months, some pieces we had previously seen on his wife, Kim. The models were all in simplistic flesh toned outfits, as is the signature Yeezy look – a range of bodysuits, bombers, hoodies, camo flak jackets, tube dresses and new thigh high boots. More importantly, the models were all of different skin tones, body types and hair textures – proving that there is no excuse for fashion shows to not be more inclusive of all.

 

 

Kanye recently named McDonalds as his favourite brand, not because of its menu options but its far reach across the globe. ‘ I just want to bring as much beauty to the world.’ Kanye said during the last Yeezy unveil.

The clothes are all simple everyday wardrobe options with a Kanye twist. The bodysuits seem to always be the collection favourite, everyone seems to love the form fitting, breathable material. The different earth tone colours they come in are simply the icing on the cake. The Yeezy bodysuits would definitely sell out in Nigeria, we are all for chic but we like practicality more, a Yeezy body suit and some nice ankara high waist shorts would be all the rage.

The new thigh high boots were a bit harder to fall in love with, we saw the clear, plastic boots for the first time on Kim a few days earlier but they also featured on the run way show with a lovely sheepskin sweater. The sweater was absolutely fabulous but the boots on the other hand, seemed almost impossible to walk in especially in the heat.

All in all the show did not disappoint, there was drama and suspense essential if you want to get those headlines in New York Fashion Week.