Tuesday, September 30, 2014

One Woman Finds 100 Stunning Ways To Wear African Fashion

Diana Opoti reached into her closet and found 100 gorgeous ensembles that are defying cliches and inspiring buyers.


Diana Opoti has traveled the continent in search of innovative designers working creatively with texture, form and color and defying cliches about African fashion. She collected some of her favorites in her 100 Days of African Fashion campaign.



Diana Opoti is a fashion and brand consultant in Nairobi, Kenya, and she hosted a popular television program about African designers. She capped off 100 Days of African Fashion with this ensemble, featuring a clutch in hand-embroidered silk by Neha Designs, a sterling silver ring by Gladys Macharia (Kenya), and a bracelet by Uru Diamonds (Tanzania).


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"I had so many mixed messages about what people perceive about African fashion and what status it had," Opoti said.



Opoti is showing off earrings, bangles and a ring by an up-and-coming jeweller named Gladys Macharia, who uses recycled brass and precious local stones in her designs.


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"African prints" can be a fraught concept. Are they too cliche? Too trendy? Too backward, or too-fashion forward? Chill out, Opoti says. "You don't need to overthink this. Just wear it."



"You want a pencil skirt, it's in a fabric that you like, brilliant! Buy it." That goes for jewelry, too. Ghanian luxury designer Mina Evans' pencil skirt was part of a showcase Evans designed for Vlisco, the haute Dutch wax print company.


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"There's no one definition of 'African' in African fashion."



Ugandan designer Juliana Nasasira's jersey dress, under her label Kwesh, is inspired by African patterns but born of Nasasira's education at the legendary Instituto Maringoli in Italy. Opoti likes the diversity the dress introduces.


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