ANKARA, MARNI & H&M!!!!!

Hello my fashionistas!

 I'm a little under the weather today so I've decided to talk about fashion which always lifts my spirits:-)

Anyway, I'm sure by now after everybody was able to snatch one or two pieces of Versace 4 H&M, you've heard that the Swedish brand has just announced that the Italian fashion label, MARNI will be the next to collaborate with them and give us another reason to stay up all night waiting in lines! 

Maybe not! U see, here's my dilemma................

When I first looked at the pictures of what was to be created by Marni 4 H&M, I did a double take!

Why? u say, well......

..... b'cos as a proud African-American, (My father is Nigerian and I'm from the Yoruba tribe)

This fabric looked extremely familiar.

And what we call at home (Nigeria),  ANKARA.

Thats the beautiful thing about fashion, and I've said this before, it stands on neutral ground and gathers it's inspirations from all over the world!

So next spring everywhere there is an H&M store we are going to have fellow fashionistas dressing like fellow Africans......for a change, it doesn't happen often so I'm milking this one. 

On top of which the MARNI collection will also be bringing attention to African fabrics, culture and Fashion! 
FABULOUS!

MARNI 4 H&M

As soon as my wonderful Norwegian husband saw these pictures, there was a wide smile on his face as he also noticed the similarity....he's exact words were....

" Wow Fumes, u don't even have to buy anything from this collection b'cos u have it all from the market straight from Nigeria! This is GOOD news 4 me, as I'll save a lot of money this time around" 
And he promptly got up and went to make himself a cup of coffee. Hahahahahaha.

This was at our traditional wedding in Lagos, Nigeria!

So here's a little enlightenment 4 u.

What is ANKARA

Ankara are vibrant patterns of very rich colorful designs mostly made of 100% cotton material.  Originally the wax resist dyed fabrics were exported to the Gold Coast and spread over West Africa into Central Africa and were largely produced in Nigeria.  They became extremely popular over time and were initially worn as every day casual outfits customized to suit the designs of the person wearing it. Nowadays they are primarily made in Ghana and have a strong cultural, social and economic importance.

Africans are very creative and use these bold, festive fabrics to tell stories, poems and traditional African tales. Depending on the pattern of the design a specific name is given for example you will often hear people refer to the different design names like star, concord or shell etc.

The cotton fabric used for Ankara is cool and durable which is really appropriate for the all year tropical wether and can be worn in various styles. Ankara is commonly wornto parties, weddings and other similar African occasions known as ASO-EBI.
This is a Yoruba phrase for family cloth. The custom in Nigeria is for people from the same family to wear the same cloth to show you belong to a certain family. Now it can be worn as a uniform for the same group of friends in a party or more commonly @ African Weddings.

Something must be in the water b'cos Christopher Bailey over @ BURBERRY is doing the same thing 4 it's Spring/Summer 2012 collection, take a look below!

All of the above are looks from the BURBERRY 2012 collection.

Below are pictures of ANKARA material in different styles.

Look 4 yourself and u decide.

I mean it's almost like selling milk to a cow 4 a very high price!

And this looks soooooooo much nicer and %100 fun! Just look @ the sandals, 2 die 4!

The above designs are from VLISCO & it's a HUGE brand & very well known.

Even Boyonce were's Ankara! The above pic is her on holiday wearing VLISCO.

So..................

Maybe one day in the future, an African designer can collaborate with H&M!....

just a thought! Hmmm.


African culture and fashion is going to be the 'IN' thing next season, u can always tell when a whole bunch of publications and designers go in a certain direction with what's to come in the future, and this next season is a juxtaposition of colours fabrics and textures, also known as fun, fun, fun and more fun:-)
Just look @ Australian Vogue cover 4 last month!

I'm telling u my fellow African fashionistas, we R going 2 be hot, Hot, HOT & I'm not talking about the weather!
Yepeee!