On Friday night, I was invited to attend a fashion show at one of Kampala's hotels that was being held to benefit and bring awareness to Aidchild, an organisation that provides care, support and education to orphans living with AIDS who do not have the support of extended families.
It was an event put together by Africa Tumefika whose motto is to Touch a Life Thru Fashion n' Design.
If I had to give the show a title, I'd call it
Too big. To shiny. Too much. Too thick. Too bad.
They really ought to fix that before taking the show on the road.
Oh, it was a really classy night.
What does one wear that's aprapos for a party that's sponsored by a fortified wine?
If I were to give the show a subtitle, I'd have to also call it a night of really bad photography because I didn't get any good shots. However, I got enough to give you the gist of what went on.
African Astronaut Urban Space WearRemember how cute/sexy Britney Spears was before she went bat-shit crazy? Let me take you back to a more innocent time when she was dancing on Mars, encountering astronauts and Oops!...She did it again:
Astronaut: Britney, before you go, there's something I want you to have.
Britney: Oh, it's beautiful! But wait a minute...isn't this?
Astronaut: Yeah. Yes it is.
Britney: But I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end.
Astronaut: Well, baby, I went down and got it for you.
Britney: Ah! You shouldn't have.
If you saw anyone walking around in this, wouldn't you think he was homeless? It's an omukeeka with a hole in it. Now, if I saw a homeless man walking around in this, I'd think he was quite clever, creatively finding a way to cover his nakedness. I think the woven bag makes a great environmental statement: We don't need buveera sacks. A sack like that is great for market days; they are quite inexpensive and reusable.
A look for the modern man in Uganda... The announcer suggested this look for 'ushers'. He kept making reference to usher during this model's trip on the runway. The only ushers that came to my mind were the one's at the Cineplex. I guess it would be cool to have movie theater ushers take my ticket and help me find my seat dressed as a primary school pupil dancing at a music festival.
Did they have a fitting before the show? (Not to mention a hair stylist... but I guess I just did.) How many sizes too large is the skirt for this woman's waist? 3? 4? Simply put: This outfit does not fit a woman's body. It seems an overt attempt by the designer to sell sex, but she missed the mark. Too much is on display--shoulders, midriff, and legs. The woman's natural curves are not accentuated by the cut of the design; it's very sloppy...so not sexy.
This was described as 'African Urban Wear'. So I guess anything baggy can be givin the tag urban wear. But to be honest with you, this reminds me so much of what people where I'm from (an oh, so very rural area) would wear to go duck hunting. With all the excess space, one could store his game and easily transport it out of the swamp.
The fashion show turned into a lil' miss beauty pageant when this model stepped out. Come on! This design is straight out of the 'creative wear' category of a Miss Jinja, Miss KIU, or (as it appears) Miss Kawempe pageant. It is so unworthy of a designer with the talent of Latif. How 'uncreative wear'!
By far, the stand out designer of the show was Xenson, a young designer from Kamapala. Despite going on and on about all the awards the man has won, his portion of the show was the most creative, most interesting and best choreographed. I don't have any photos of his designs because I was on my way out (the show was soooooo long and just a lot of the same over and over) when he was announced. My friends and I headed back because one of my friends is a friend of his friend and really wanted to see his creations. It was worth the return. He made a a good show and outshone his colleagues.
fashion conscious.
5 comments:
Xenson? Ain't that the chap doing graffiti everywhere? Nearly on my back! X-( I'd have pulled him down from up the stage.
Still ... what happened to sane shoes?
HahahahaHahaha!!!!! Love the Britney refresher course!!
Hahahaha... your experience sounds so similar to the one I had when I went to see Sylvi Owori's fashion show at the Serena, ridiculous clothes some of which didn't fit (I described it as costumes from a bad middle school stage version of shaka zulu) and then so long and repetative that I left before it officially ended!
What is up with UG fashion shows?? Why are they like that? Some African clothes I see women on the streets or at weddings and other formal occisions are so beautiful but then the ones in the fashion shows are ridiculous!
But I guess that is how a lot of haute couture fashion is in the states too.. runway clothes are impractical and ridiculous, though still why do they have to make the shows so long? 2 hours is enough!
Comrade, I think he should be arrested for all that grafiti.
I went for Sylvies show too,I was bored and had free VIP passes, dont know how people sit thru these shows.
They have a misguided sense of what is African. I guess those woven basket clothes were their idea of African Couture.
Haute couture, African couture ... sounds like posh speak for 'ugly clothes' to me.
I watched a snippet of the show on tv, the part where they were wrapped in cheap old mats. Now I see the shoes and I'm glad I flipped channels.
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