Who Wore What: Arise Issue 11 Cover Girls in Deola Sagoe

Earlier this year, the May cover of Marie Claire South Africa featured 3 models all dressed in pieces from Deola Sagoe's Fall 2009 collection, Above the Fray. Now, after a significant hiatus (the last we heard from them was June!), Arise Magazine's 11th issue features a quartet of models all dressed in pieces from Deola Sagoe's S/S 2010 collection, Vintage:



Absolutely gorgeous! Can't wait to get our hands on a copy of Arise come Dec. 18. What to expect from Arise's "global fashion" issue? Fashion spreads shot "on location in Johannesburg, Paris, London and the Kenyan plains"! If that's not enough to get us all excited...

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Marie Claire South Africa May 2010 cover:

 Runway:

Look book:

Sigh. We truly can't get enough of Ms. Sagoe! Which cover do you prefer?

XO

Spread Love: Maki Oh//Arise Magazine

We're enthralled by Maki Oh's ability to turn Africa's rich history into pieces of wearable art. Their spread in the latest Arise Magazine features one piece that's a great representation of what Maki Oh does - pieces of broken calabash are stitched together to create something we haven't quite seen before. While her feature (below) says something to the effect of Maki Oh looking to make more ready-to-wear pieces, we hope she doesn't tone it down too much because we're certain she's on to something.

[Click to enlarge and read the story]

XO

Many thanks to Divine from Maki Oh for these photos :-)

Cover Girl: Alek Wek//Arise [Issue 10]

The latest cover of Arise Magazine (Cover 10) features one of our favorite models EVER, Alek Wek. The world is abuzz with World Cup mania and Arise makes room for the first World Cup hosted on African soil. Wek is sporty chic in a black swimsuit, assortment of neon bangles and watches and her trademark crop. SO fab! The inner pages features other stunning models, including Oluchi Onweagba Orlandi who's super cute in her Nigerian jersey, short shorts and matching green/white/green nail varnish:

Girls will be girls and we love that that shone through even with a typically male-dominated theme. Looking forward to purchasing and reviewing this magazine, especially at its new significantly lower price.

Any other Arise lovers out there?

XO

Photos courtesy of Arise's Facebook Fan Page

Countdown to the Arise Magazine African Collective III: 3 days to go!

[Tanzanian designer Anisa Mpungwe of Loin Cloth and Ashes]

We were snooping around trying to bring you the inside scoop of what to expect from Anisa Mpungwe's Loin Cloth and Ashes show @ NYFW this Saturday when we stumbled on her moodboard:

o o o

Let's see what we can make it of it:

- A subdued palette of browns and taupes with a dash of gray

- A touch of black to keep things edgy

- An emphasis on texture [knits, perhaps?]

- Defined, structured shapes [a la corsets, helped by belting]

- Vintage femininity and romance rooted in modernity

o o o

We'll know if we were right or wrong on Saturday :-)

What do you make of the moodboard?

Oh, before we forget, we also stumbled on the official invite to the event:

Nice and simple! But more than that, we know several people who would kill to have one in their hands right now, lol. Anyway, hope these little "inside scoops" make you as happy and excited as they make us :-)

XO

Cover Girls: Ubah Hassan//Arise Magazine Feb. 2010; Agbani Darego//Genevieve Magazine Feb. 2010

We haven't seen much from Arise Magazine's camp since their Oct. 2009 edition with Alicia Keys on the cover. Issue #8 is their "Crowning Glory" edition and features a stunning YBF chic with a luxurious, to-die-for mane and lots of attitude. There's something very "old school glamor" about her that we adore and this is definitely one of our favorite Arise covers yet. Can any of our readers identify her? [*Edit* Many thanks to Tiffany of beautyestdiverse for identifying her as Somali model Ubah Hassan!]

Contact the folks at myasho.com about getting a copy.

o o o

[Scanned by ShopLiquorice. Agbani Darego wears an Ere Dappa embellished dress.]

The very stunning Agbani Darego [the first Black African winner of Miss World - she won in 2001] is this month's Genevieve Magazine's cover girl. While Agbani's beauty shines through, we can't help but think Genevieve's 7th Anniversary Edition could've had more bells and whistles. Alas, we'll have to make do. This month's Genevieve also features 4 brands that are on the on and up and several pieces have us in lust. Want a preview? Here you go:

[Model wears the Papillon-Jaune by Kiki Kamanu. Image courtesy of Chicnicity LLC]

Click here for details on how to purchase the e-version of Genevieve.

XO

in the news: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2010 Collections

[click to enlarge]

a few days ago, we added Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to our "upcoming events" section (see sidebar), following news that Deola Sagoe would be participating this year, presumably under the umbrella of Arise Africa's Collective. well, the official fashion week schedule is out and while we don't yet have concrete details on who's showing this year, we're still looking forward to the ARISE MAGAZINE AFRICAN COLLECTIVE III, taking place 8pm, Sat, Feb. 13, 2010 at the Tent. you already know we're gearing up to bring you the best coverage we can provide as we've been known to do :-) stay tuned and scan through the schedule above.

looking forward to any shows in particular?

xo

image thanks to nitrolicious

spread love: arise magazine//ajuma nasenyana

we're loving these scans from the october edition of arise magazine, featuring kenyan model ajuma nasenyana:

[click to enlarge]

she's SO stunning! GOSH! side note: we wish more arise magazine spreads would feature pieces from african designers. african models wearing clothes from african designers? win-win.

xo

source

cover girl: alicia keys//Arise Magazine, Oct 2009

this month's cover of Arise Magazine features the very lovely Alicia Keys and her work with her Keep a Child Alive foundation. in even more exciting news, Arise Magazine is now on sale online @ myasho.com!! ALSO, the fabulous people @ myasho'll throw in a free copy of Arise for purchases of £25 or more!! FINALLY (yes, there's more), get 10% off your purchases from now until oct. 30, 2009 using the following code during checkout: "KCA2009".

get issue #7 of Arise here!

xo

cover girl: sessilee lopez on the cover of Arise Magazine, Sept 2009

we've been lovin' sessilee lopez long time and we're excited she's on the cover of this month's Arise Magazine!

like? don't like? undecided? why?

source

who wore what: arise magazine july '09

on this month's cover of arise magazine, oluchi onweagba brings the fierceness in a dress by uganda's gloria wavamunno. regular readers of this site may recall seeing the dress during arise africa fashion week here. oluchi certainly brings this dress to life and makes us see its beauty upclose and personal. while it takes on a number of trends (it has pockets, it's a one-handed dress featuring a puff sleeve, it's metallic, and it's patterned), it comes together very nicely and tastefully and we want, we want, WE WANT! we're not too sure about the accessories, though - such a striking dress needs minimal work. in any case, we'll be on the lookout for the magazine and we'll be sure to let you know our thoughts.

xo

fyi: arise fashion week starts this friday

hi folks! we posted a link to a news article about Arise Fashion Week a while ago. here's just a little reminder that it kicks off this friday in johannesburg! 52 designers from Africa (from namibia, to nigeria, to egypt, and kenya) and the diaspora (including familiar names on this blog such as tiffany amber, stoned cherrie, jewel by lisa, ituen basi, etc.) will feature their designs from friday, june 12 to friday, june 19. according to Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, the chairperson of African Fashion International (AFI):

"Africa has long been a muse for the arts throughout the world, most recently in fashion, with the world’s top designers choosing to look towards African techniques, designs and materials to ensure that their collections appeal to a wider global audience. Many great international designer houses have borrowed from Africa in creating their most recent collections, including Louis Vuitton, Lanvin, Oscar de la Renta and Christian Louboutin. There appears to be a new excitement around the African aesthetic, and we believe that it is time this is displayed to the world, from the source of this inspiration."

need we say more?

a list of designers can be found here and the schedule of events can be found here.

stay tuned!

xo

spotlight: arise magazine

yes, yet another reference to Arise Magazine and the African Fashion Collective show. only this time, we're focusing more on the actual magazine and its content. no, we're not holding the actual magazine in our hands (YET) but there's a website for the magazine and you can head on over there to get your fill of fabulous spreads like this:



...and this:



happy viewing!

xo