The Ghana Fashion Week Diaries! Day 1.

Prologue: 
I keep changing the name of this blog.. I think I might stick with this one though! I found out that it is the meaning of my name, and I decided to prove how happy I am about this revelation by changing the name of my blog. Anyway, fashion involves diamonds for sure. Or just.. shininess in general.
Imma get right down to it. I think todaaaay I will examine Ghana fashion week which ended last week. Can I just say that I never knew it existed.. but then I guess lots of places have fashion weeks, all over the world. Winchester had one last year- yep teeny Winchester.  

Day 1

The brand Love April opened the show. Apparently the aim of it is to create a sense of comfort and freedom through the clothes. I can see how they achieved this.. The clothes flow a lot, and look quite casual overall.  I really like the African influence on this dress (the pattern under the bust- I don't think it is a belt). The double strap is a nice feature. Gives the idea that she is secure- which fits with the message that the designer (Nina.. Cant find surname) is trying to give.

Another designer is Nelly Hagan Aboagye of Duaba Serwa. The clothes here are mainly dresses, which are more bold in terms of colour. The African influences in the clothes are very strong. Some of the prints are beautiful. The colours in this collection are definitely brighter, and glass beads are also used. Very contemporary look.

Next comes a Nigerian brand, Orange Culture. Dresses both men and women, which is rather refreshing. Another nice message: the clothes here are for people who don't want clothes to define who they are- they want to stand out from the crowd. The designer is Adebayo Oke-Lawal. I think the clothes in this line are nothing short of awesome. It is still colourful, but the patterns are darker and there is more of an ethnic vibe. The menswear includes a lot of orange, which reminds me of the sun.

Love April, Duaba Serwa, Orange Culture, Orange Culture, Konfidence, Maria Mia, Jil Boutique and Sarah Duah

Konfindence is another emerging Ghanaian brand has the aim of appealing to more sophisticated women. It's cool that authentic kente fabric is used- I found out that it was once the 'cloth of kings' and only worn in times of extreme importance, which sounds pretty sophisticated to me. The clothes I can view are black and purple, and according to Wikipedia, Black Kente cloth means Maturation and spiritual energy, while Purple is associated with femininity. it seems that the clothes are fairly plain, but patterns are shown in the accessories (bags and shoes).

The following label is in fact, a Spanish one- designed by Maria Gonzalez. It is called Maria Mia, which is revolved around making the wearer look elegant. It is almost like the first designer Love April, as a lot of white is used. The collection includes subtle patterns, such as polka dots and stripes. She uses a lot of different textures, perhaps to compensate for the lack of colour. All the clothes look comfortable.. but prestigious, which is pretty difficult to pull off, so I take my hat off to her. I love the slight peplum in the example above.

Next label... one word- triangles :) A lot of triangle prints here. It is called Jil Boutique by Adoley Addo and is Ghanaian. And geometry in general.. The cuts of some of the garments are diagonal, and the peplum adds to the dimensions. Of course, presently in western fashion, geometry is in (Prada) and I love how it is a trend in Ghana too. Kente cloth is used in this collection too, which is an authentic touch. This collection involves a lot of bright colours against black- it is not all bright colours, which is a very good balance.

The final designer for the day is called Sarah Duah, and she is from Germany. She is the only one out of the lot to focus on hair as much as clothes, maybe to the extreme. Either her clothes are made out of actual hair (which I doubt) or some kind of fibres that resemble hair.. but yeah, there are plaits on the clothes and everything. It is kind of stone-agey, but the clothes are so dramatic. Who needs faux fur when you can wear hair? A little crazy!

It seems I have a lot to say about GFW.. so I only did day 1 today. Stay tuned for part 2 of the Ghana Fashion Week Diaries! Will be uploaded tomorrow, or the day after!