There are people in the fashion industry whom I admire greatly! People who know me well know my passion for the business. In my tone, I do not want to come off as disrespecting anybody! You do not spend a few years of your life, shuttling between the British Library and The Victoria & Albert Museum Library, because you dislike fashion. You do it, because you want to absorb every piece of information on African and International fashion, every book, every magazine going back to the beginning of time. There was a post on an African Fashion page, the post said Sorry to go of message - but I love this Burberry Bag. You werent going off message, the bag was trending it was hand painted and it again relates to craft, which relates to Africa. Burberry also used African Prints a few seasons back. But there is idea that you have to reference within your culture. You have to reference everything. When I talk of Africa - nothing is in isolation. To me if we are going to have the debate, then we have to look at all the facts. I recently watched Dame Vivienne Westwood talking with passion on Environmental issues. She said you cant talk about saving the bees without talking about other issues that cause the problem? That is my feeling about Africa and how I approach what I do. My phrase I dont believe in Ethical African Fashion. Means, that I dont believe in one action, without discussing all the other issues. The world is going through a moment, but matters relating to Africa cannot be looked at in isolation. Everything is connected. Doing something for a cause is admirable, but we have to delve deeper into WHY? Weve lost major African textile factories in Ghana and England. The lifeblood of our history - no angel arrives to save them - no mentions on the financial pages of broadsheet newspapers. Thousands of people of out work, nobody says a thing. Nothing is an isolated matter. We have people migrating against all odds, WHY? Again, nothing is an isolated matter. I think intelligent people in fashion understand what I am saying and know that it is not with ill intention. But Africa needs bigger action. As I work on my clothing, its a battle. But there are always fabric companies or producers outside Africa who are sophisticated and just say Africa - okay what do you need? This is the way it should be, it is not a matter of them and us, it is matter of all of us. Finally, I want to say that I post images to inspire to show that nothing is isolated. no matter where you are, even in a village, Look, see, find out more. Some people may not know the names of people I mention - GOOGLE THEM - IMAGES - SEE THEIR GENIUS WORK. That is the point, of what we do, to defy convention, to ask questions to challenge the format. We want to do it better today than it was done in the 1800, 1980 or 2000. We want to unite and change by sharing the knowledge. I hope you enjoy the images, I look forward to presenting the next collection Spring 2015 very soon.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 02:23:36 +0000
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