ARISE Magazine headlines top African designers at New York Fashion Week
New York, NY, February 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Leading global African-themed style and cultural magazine ARISE selected top African designers Black Coffee (www.blackcoffee.co.za), Loin Cloth and Ashes (www.loinclothandashes.com) along with Deola Sagoe (www.deolasagoedesign.com) to showcase Fall/Winter 2010 designs during the publication’s AFRICAN COLLECTIVE PART III Mercedes Benz Fashion Week runway presentation.
On Saturday, February 13th at 8 p.m., show producer Jan Malan will transform Bryant Park’s largest venue, The Tent, into a living African landscape with elaborate staging inspired by award-winning poet Ben Okri. Models will walk through a virtual day and night on the great continent flush with excitement as South Africa gears up to host the FIFA World Cup and many states celebrate a half century of independence as well as economies poised for rapid growth.
The AFRICAN COLLECTIVE PART III, along with a series of international ARISE-branded events, will act as a unique and valuable platform for the great scope of talent ARISE Magazine documents monthly. Chairman and CEO Nduka Obaigbena of Leaders & Co., parent company to this London-based publication and Nigeria’s best-selling newspaper THISDAYwww.thisdayonline.com), believes the event will create and promote positive images to its readership residing throughout the world and even encourage investment in African nations. (
“Our tomorrow is bright,” said Obaigbena, “Showing for the third consecutive season at Bryant Park and in a larger venue is a testament to the continued success of our initiatives. I look forward to what is sure to be an amazing usage of African visual aesthetics recreated on the catwalk.”
Fresh from Berlin Fashion Week and receiving the Mercedes Benz South Africa Best Fashion Award 2009, Black Coffee designers Jacques van der Watt and Danica Lepen are new to a US audience. “It’s a great experience for us and a little bit of a treat in a business that is a great deal of hard work,” said van der Watt.
Lagos-based Deola Sagoe will be returning to New York Fashion Week after a decade. “To have come this far ordains a measure of success that I could not have imagined for myself. I am thrilled and honoured to be showing in New York.”
For the first time, an emerging designer, Loin Cloth and Ashes, from Tanzania, will also be part of the collective ensuring a triumvirate of African Design is represented. “My one dream was always to show my work in Africa,” said Anisa Mpungwe. “I would have never for one minute thought that I would ever show overseas, let alone in America, I am grateful to ARISE Magazine for this incredible opportunity.”
In addition to the New York show, ARISE Magazine will present during Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2010, and host a Fashion Rocks! event in Johannesburg on July, 9, 2010. The highly-anticipated event will feature a fashion show and simultaneous performance by an uber, American songstress.
About ARISE Magazine (www.arisemagazine.net)
ARISE is a global style magazine that celebrates African achievement in the realms of fashion, music, culture and polity. It is published by THISDAY Media Group. The high-end monthly glossy is sold in London, New York, Washington DC, Milan, Paris and Nigeria. It is aimed at areadership within the global African diaspora that share an interest in the cultural successes and positive social developments coming out of the continent. Its mix of fashion, music, and polity is tailored to appeal to young, affluent readers and to a 60/40 female/male audience.
About Black Coffee (www.blackcoffee.co.za)
In 1998, while South Africa was searching for a new identity, Black Coffee was formed by Jacques van der Watt, a graduate of Leggatts Design Academy, Johannesburg. He was joined in 2004 by Danica Lepen, who completed her studies at Midrand Graduate Institute, Johannesburg. In the ten years since its inception, Black Coffee has shown at South African Fashion Week, Cape Town Fashion Week and San Francisco Fashion Week. The label has been nominated five times for the SA Fashion Awards and has won twice (in 2001 and 2007). Black Coffee is also the 2009 winner of the Mercedes Benz Award for Fashion. Black Coffee currently retails from the Black Coffee stores in Melville, Johannesburg, as well as selected stores in Pretoria and Cape Town. A new installation store opened in November 2009 at Arts on Main, Johannesburg.
About Deola Sagoe (www.deolasagoedesign.com)
Nigerian Deola Sagoe began designing in 1998 and has gained international notoriety for her lively and colorful designs. Her aesthetic holds a definitive African feel – making use of woven fabrics, and accessories like cowries, crystals, and beads, as well as the extensive use of gold. She was recently appointed to represent Nigeria in “Catwalk the World: Fashion for Food.” Sagoe frequently exhibits her couture collection at Cape Town Fashion Week and has been an invited guest of New York Fashion Week in the past. Sagoe has won the “Africa Designs” and the MNET/ Anglo Gold African designs 2000 awards for which she was nominated by Andre Leon Tally, US Vogue editor. She also has famous fans such as Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith.
About Loin Cloth and Ashes (www.loinclothandashes.com)
Tanzanian- born Anisa Mpungwe launched her label Loin Cloth and Ashes in August 2008. Named after the Hebrew custom of Sackcloth and Ashes, that expresses humility before the higher spirit by wearing coarse cloth, normally used to make sacks, and dusting oneself with ashes. LCA is known for its hidden detailing, elegant edgy vibe, comfort and fit. Dresses make a statement but still maintain timeless air of luxury and style. Inspired by art, music, passion, shape and mood swings, Loin Cloth & Ashes loves a woman who is powerful and confident about herself and the beauty she proudly holds.
