Nelson Mandela is known worldwide for a number of things. The most prominent being his anti-apartheid actions and being elected the first black president of South Africa. His charitable efforts and acts of good will are celebrated still today with his charity that spreads awareness about HIV and AIDS. In the past the charity, known as 46664, which takes its name from Mandela’s prison number has raised money through enormous concerts with headliners such as Bono, but their fund-raising efforts are taking a whole new direction. Mandela was often seen wearing vivid, loose fitting shirts with bright African prints during his presidency, and those shirts are being reinstated into the closets of many young fans of fashion. A new fashion label that goes by the same name of the charity, 46664, is reincarnating some of the fashion Mandela wore during his days as president and putting it on the runway. The collection was shown recently at South Africa Fashion Week and featured hues of pinks, greens, oranges and purples. Part of the proceeds raised by the clothing line will then be donated back to Mandela’s AIDS charity, so even at the age of 93, Mandela is still a positive role model and constantly changing the world.
Source: The Australian
Lustenau, Austria has been the lace capital of Austria for hundreds of years. They are known worldwide for producing high quality textiles, and for creating one of their strongest business ties with companies in Nigeria. In fact, Austrian lace exports have been shipped to Nigeria since the 1960′s. “It has always been about a mutually beneficial relationship between Austria and Nigeria. This is about so much more than just selling our products to the market.” says Markus Riedmann, Chairman of the Austrian Embroidery Manufacturer’s Association. Lace is often considered to be “old-fashioned” or something that your grandmother would wear, but the beautiful feminine patterns, and bright, flamboyant designs are something that attract fans of African fashion young and old.
The Austrian-Nigerian lace partnership has now taken a step into the future and is claiming its spot on the fashion scene. A project known as “Austrian Lace – Nigerian Fashion” that took place last October aims to celebrate the longstanding history of lace exports to Nigeria, while showing how lace can still be relevant and high-fashion. Four designers were hand-picked to take part in the exhibition, one of which was Frank Osodi of House of Bunor, who also showcased at Africa Fashion Week New York 2010. Osodi’s interpretation of Nigerian fashion with Austrian lace showed a sea of ballgowns, full skirts, and feminine ruffles cascading to the floor. Each piece was unique, feminine, and a mix of modern and classic style that beautifully tied together two cultures that work together so harmoniously.
Source: Style House Files
Season Smith-Wesley started out jewelry making as a hobby, and a stress reliever like many designers who are just starting out do. She had been making jewelry by hand and giving it as gifts for some time and with the support of her family and friends to start selling it, she looked further into the business venture. She took a jewelry making class at a local craft store on a whim one day and from that point on has been creating gorgeous beaded necklaces and bracelets that will have people asking where you got that amazing piece from. She knew that being at her desk job didn’t let her true inner creativity and her interest in fashion shine, so AdAl Jewelry Designs was born. A lot of colors are used in her designs and draws inspiration from her Liberian heritage. She was always attracted to traditional African fabrics and textures, and her jewelry is her translation of these styles into wearable art. Smith-Wesley has stated that she knows her designs aren’t for everyone, she says her best customers are ladies who “don’t like to play it safe,” she says. “They want to make a bold statement.” Not only does she make beautiful fashion statements, but a portion of her proceeds go to the non-profit charity, Autism Speaks. After her son was diagnosed with the disease, jewelry making became an outlet for her stress with dealing with the demands of the disorder, so this is her way to give back and help bring awareness to the cause.
Source: Try Handmade
Facebook has always been known as a “symmetrical” network. In order for you to follow and receive information from another user, they have to accept your friend request and they are able to see all of the information on your page as well. Twitter on the other hand is a lot more one-sided. You can follow any number of celebrities, journalists, politicians, and even businesses and they are unable to see your tweets unless they follow you back. Now, Facebook has recently launched the “Subscribe” features where you can choose a person you’d like to see updates from and they show up on your news feed, without them having to accept your friend request. To me, that sounds slightly creepy especially because the majority of users see Facebook as a means to connect primarily with people they already know whereas Twitter is used more often as a news source and they connect with organizations worldwide where it is perfectly acceptable for them to not follow you back. The real question is now, should Twitter be worried? In my opinion, I don’t think so. Twitter still has the unique feature that it gives you quick blurbs of information. Facebook is more for sharing images and experiences with others, and plus the “Like” features on Facebook has already allowed many people to connect with their favorite celebrities and organizations. Twitter has nothing to worry about.
Yesterday, the New York fashion scene was introduced to Parisian designer Elie Kuame’s premier couture collection at New York Fashion Fest. The line is named REV_ELIEK_TION, and was inspired by the words revolution, addiction and luxury. ‘Rev’ for dreams or revolution, ‘Eliek’ for Kuame’s addiction to the female body and ‘Tion’ for science and spirit of the art. Kuame spoke about the line and said, “This collection is for the elegant, cultured professional woman who needs to transition from day to evening wear effortlessly.” Already an accomplished wedding gown and evening wear designer that often features delicate hand-embroidery, his designs are influenced by a melting pot of cultures. With his family lines leading back to the Ivory Coast, being born in Belgium, becoming a big part in the Parisian fashion scene and having won awards for his designs all over the world including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, China he draws inspiration from worldwide culture.
Edun was first launched in 2005 by U2 front-man Bono and his wife Ali Hewson to raise awareness of the possibilities that lie in the continent of Africa and encourage other companies to do business there. This year, they showed their spring 2012 collection at New York Fashion week to a crowd that included celebrities to the likes of Christie Turlington, Courtney Love, and Naomi Campbell in attendance. The new collection is a marriage of “iconic florals and African prints, bringing two contrasting worlds together in signature Edun style,” said the show notes. Edun worked with a group of Kenyan artisan nuns known as the crochet sisters on a few notable pieces including a fitted leather trimmed dress and skirt. This season 37% of clothing was produced directly in Africa which was an increase from last year’s 15% and the company is looking for that number to continue to go up. This collection and the company as a whole truly makes an impact and attracts important figures in the fashion world.
Source: TreeHugger
In order to be a successful entrepreneur you need to have a few key skills. You need to start with a great idea first of all. Something that hasn’t been done. You need to be quick thinking, logical, and inventive. We see wealthy and successful entrepreneurs making everything look so easy, but it wasn’t. They all started from the bottom and created an empire by no accident, they are the innovaters, the ones that think differently than everyone else, the ones that have an entrepreneurial mind. In being a successful entrepreneur it is important to:
1. Always ask what, how, and why? Problem solving is an essential skill that all entrepreneurs need to have. When an obstacle arises there needs to be a creative solution, or sometimes it can be a really simple one to get around it. You always need to be thinking about what is your product, how is it different, how does it help other, why would people want to use it, and what are my goals?
2. Go-getter attitude. As an entrepreneur in the beginning you are probably doing everything yourself. you have to have the attitude that no task is too small whether it be packing boxes, answering the phone, or writing a thank-you letter. When you work your way up, you’ll eventually have people to do these things for you when you’re talking bigger tasks, but you can never look at them as unimportant and you should always be willing to do any task to keep your business afloat.
3. Use logic. A business degree and a PhD doesn’t automatically make a person successful. They need to use logic as well. Some of the most successful people today didn’t even graduate college (i.e. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerburg) they simply know how to use logic in their business ventures
Source: Loren’s World
Have you ever heard of the barter system? It’s not like it was back in the medieval times when you would trade your goat for a few chickens. Adiree likes giving event management tips, and bartering is a useful tool you can use. Bartering is the act of exchanging services for services and is the most ancient form of commerce. In absence of dollar bill funding consider what services your event can provide to a company and vice versa. Allot room for dollar amounts to be ascribed to those services so that you can keep track of the value they hold in negotiations and contracts for later uses. Not having money should not hold you back from acquiring the necessary resources to launch a quality event successfully.
Not quite sure how to do this? Here’s a real life example you might find useful, your company can trade exhibitor spaces for speaker or performance fees of equivalent value or provide marketing services in conjuntion with your own to offset costs for printing flyers i.e. many printing companies offer specials where one side of the flyer promotes their company the other side your promotional graphics. Take advantage of batering as much as possible, the relationship developed via bartering agreements can be mutually beneficial and rewarding for all parties involved.
Arise Magazine’s “Made in Africa” show for Mercedes-Benz Fashion week is tomorrow and I thought I would highlight one of the designers that will be showing her new collection: Bunmi Koko. This London based designer of Nigerian and Scottish decent, Bunmi Olaye, blends her two cultures that most people would find to be complete opposites into a beautifully cohesive whole. Her designs have caught the eye of many including the First Lady Michele Obama, and a wide variety of singers and musicians. Innovation and print technology is a key strength in the growing luxury brand and they have been recognized with many awards and recognitions. We will be looking forward to see what Bunmi Koko and the rest of the designers showing tomorrow at the “Made in Africa” show have to offer.
Source: Bunmi Koko
