afwl | TOSINGER'S BLOG

What is the purpose of Fashion week anyway? Is it a showcase of eye-candy fashion that the average person can not afford to adorn themselves with? or is it a ritual gathering of upper bourgeois tastemakers of fashion? Here’s a little history behind the purpose of the event.

A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers, brands or “houses” to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers and the media to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, these events let the industry know what’s “in” and what’s “out” for the season. – Source Wiki (More history here )

The most prominent fashion weeks are held in the four fashion capitals of the world: Milan, Paris, New York, and London. Some other important fashion weeks in the world are held in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Barcelona, Mexico City, Boston, Buenos Aires, Cleveland, Copenhagen, Dubai, Jakarta, Los Angeles, Lisbon Madrid, Manila, Rome, São Paulo, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Sydney, Tbilisi, Seoul, Tokyo, Toronto and Hong Kong. Well, now we have African versions and South Africa is leading the way, thanks to African Fashion International

African Fashion International (AFI) is the leading Fashion authority on the African continent and is committed to the promotion and development of the best South African design talent. They organize various fashion events and recently organized the popular Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg 2014; South Africa’s premier annual autumn/winter fashion show, held on 20 to 22 March with over 34 of the country’s top designers lined up to present collections in 15 shows at the Sandton Convention Center. Check out the designers here

Here are a few of my personal favorites: All photo credits to
Simon Deiner / SDR Photo, shot on location SCC, Joburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Designer: Avant Apparel

Designer: Laduma

Designer: Fabiani

Designer: Tuelo Nguyuza

David Tlale’s The Intern –Designer : Nokwanda Ngcobo

Designer : Viyella

David Tlale’s The Intern Designer : Ayanda Mthembu

David Tlale’s The Intern Designer: Duke

View the highlights of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week JOBURG

Other African Fashion Week events worthy of mention –

AFRICA FASHION WEEK LONDON (AFWL)

also Organizers of Africa Fashion Week Nigeria, Africa Fashion Week Amsterdam, Africa Fashion Week Brussels and Nigeria’s Next Top Designer

AFWL 2014 will be taking place on the 7th – 9th of August , it is tagged the Renaissance edition as it will experience a strong convergence of true contemporary African Creativity in fashion. According to AFWL’s CEO and Founder, Ronke Ademiluyi, “AFWL is working with partners in various countries in Africa and the theme for this year’s event is “Showcasing Modern African style”. More at http://africafashionweeklondon.com/

AFWL’s CEO and Founder, Ronke Ademiluyi

ADIREE

Adiat Disu is the Founder & CEO of Adiree, Organizers- Africa Fashion Week New York founded on the concept of hosting international Africa Fashion Weeks (in fashion capitals) , focused on promoting brands from Africa on a global scale. In 2009, the concept began with the birth of Africa Fashion Week in New York, the premier capital for Fashion, Entertainment, and Lifestyle brands. The next one will be on September 4-6, 2014. See http://www.Adiree.com or http://www.africafashionweekny.com for more info.