ms banks, if you're nasty

Tyra on next week's cover of NY Time mag
Of course...
...this picture has been photoshopped to within an inch of it pixel-worthy outline so that there's nothing real about it anymore.
...she's been made to look like a size four; a size two would really be pushing it now. (I mean we aren't blind?! Just willing to lap up a little white, illusory lie every now and then.)
...Tyra has found a new way to hide her blooming arms by twist-strangling herself from behind.
...that hair — I'll just leave you to your thoughts on that one.
...she used the f-word a thousand times on set. [The word of which you'd never heard until Ms. Tyra herself spoke it into being; and which has now become the sickening catch-all-word of every fashionably (or not) gay man and wannabe model (or not)] F.i.e.r.c.e!!
But all of these — it's not why I love her.
And yet it is.







Deep, erotic, mouth-searching kisses... because I feel like it.

model moment

Unofficially, resort season¹ kicked off Monday with collections from Messrs. Galliano and Lagerfeld for C. Dior and Fendi, respectively.
Officially, Arlenis Peña is the hottest model at the moment!! She's simply stunning. The Dominican model walked at Dior and Oscar de la Renta (who showed two days later); ummm, she'd even accompanied Mr. de la Renta to the Met Costume Institute Gala last week. And she's featured in the 'all black' Vogue Italia (June 2008) along with Iman, Jourdan Dunn and Alek Wek that's driving everyone wild. Ms. Peña has managed to accomplish all of this in... oh, just under a month on our radars.
Gobsmacked!! In your face!! LOL.

L: Christian Dior. R: Oscar de la Renta





Darling kisses.


Footnotes:
1. I love resort collections, honestly I do... But isn't it really geared toward women who sail into Martinique to in the middle of December?? Dom P. Rosé Guitar Cases (£75000, by the way??!! *hiss*) — Karl Lagerfeld's rocker-chic collection — on board??

Africa: new haute (Deola Sagoe)

Having grown up in Lagos, Nigeria — laughably, with only an American passport as my legal form of ID (then) — I'm terribly biased about a few things Nigerian. I admire and cherish our ethnic mosaic; there are at least six hundred!! specific dialects and a myriad of cultural traditions. Yet we continue to thrive as a unified people; upholding our commonwealth while celebrating our rich diversity. I'm always amazed at new details I'm constantly discovering that distinguish our various ethnic groups. I love love 'skinny' fried (ripe) plantain — no, not exactly plantain chips — just fried plantain, which I can eat with tomato stew or corned beef stew — no, not corned beef hash!! oh so very, very different — for breakfast, lunch and dinner!! Yum!! I love our traditional styles, our ornately patterned fabrics, their inherent histories and their continuous evolutions. Every now and again, even as I continue to work on my 'international woman of mystery' persona (thanks Liza Minelli!! ["Role Play"] haha!!), I develop a feeling of nostalgia for my home. :)

Along with the bittersweetness of my longing, I've been dying to share with you a bit of the especially innovative essence of the Nigerian fashion scene. When I thought about it, I was sure my first feature of a Nigerian designer would be haute couture designer, Ms. Deola Sagoe. With a style inherently her own, she constructs garments that ennoble the rich diversity of the Nigerian — indeed the African heritage; revolutionizing the view of African fashion in a very modern way, and yet evoking a deep need to grasp the intimacies of a people constantly ignored or misrepresented. She regularly puts forth collections for her couture and prêt-à-porter line, and has a new denim line. Even as I procrastinated (naturally), researched her work — seeking Nigerian fashion savvy friends; debriefing, of sorts, the obliging Matthew Mensah, part creative director and PR Director of the design house — I was sure you would fall in love with her pieces, just as I had. Besides, I longed to write a piece that would portray her quintessentially; as the creative innovator she embodies. I looked through her designs, then I realized I could get away with saying absolutely nothing.
It's all there.
You see it.
You feel it.

Deola Sagoe has managed to design pieces that resonate with practically every aspect of a woman's personality. It highlights and nurtures our complexities, our intricacies, flaunting them in the most graceful manner for the world to behold. Our earthiness is displayed with a sense of pride. I mean Ms. Deola Sagoe's work is simply f.a.b!!!

Perhaps, her crowning moment came when she was nominated by the formidable god of fashion Andre Leon Talley for the MNET/AngloGold African Designs Awards (2000), which she won. Or even more recently, her triumph as the recipient of the Platinum Quality Award at the 10th International Star Awards in Paris (2006). It could easily have been a moment of deep appreciation from a fashion show attendee who fell in love with the first piece that came down the runway at one of her shows; an appreciation that resonates as mutual understanding between the designer and her new fan. It is an understanding of the fortunate coexistence of the ornate heritages of our generation; complex and continuously adapting, and yet coherent as a whole. Whenever it was, the world is set as Ms. Sagoe's runway!!

Indubitably, Deola Sagoe's career as a fashion designer in the past decade has transformed much of Africa's fashion industry. And yet, that's only a part of the story. Ms. Sagoe's philanthropic efforts are inspiring. Her struggles led to her appointment as the official Designer for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) & Health PR’s new Global campaign, "CatWALK THE WORLD-Fashion For Food" put forth by Matthew Mensah in Lagos (2006). The aim of the campaign is to create awareness and raise money to fight child hunger (thus, moving the WFP goal of ending child hunger by 2015), while highlighting the unique contributions of African designers in their home countries and around the world. This year the campaign will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In addition, her designs were highly sought after during the international fashion show, held as part of the POSITIVE campaign in Sun City, South Africa; a campaign created to foster the success of AIDS programmes in local South African districts.

Meanwhile, I'm so putting in a request for these pieces!! Yay!!
Yes, I will be sporting that pink chiffon caftan top (bottom right) as a dress (seeing that the model's at least 5'8 and I'm 5'1)... You know me so well daaahlings!! :)

Here are more pieces from her previous collections. I'll have to ask about her collection for '08
I need this outift!!! (4th row right)
Okay I couldn't pick four or five pieces. I just couldn't. I hope you enjoy them.

Lastly, you have to listen to my fave Nigerian songs. I just discovered them while I was home this past Christmas, even though I go back every year. I'm not exactly sure how old they are — not more than two years, I hope. *yikes* My knowledge of all forms of contemporary and pop music continues to dwindle!! If parts of the songs sound familiar, that's probably because they are. You've probably heard them in their original versions!! Nigerians are oh so good at remixing, very much without the consent of the original singers/songwriters. HA!! Enjoy!! And no, I don't understand half of what they are saying esp in the first song :) I just love it!!









Love you for reading!!
Fragrant kisses

featuring kai milla

In celebrating Black History Month, we generally look back with admiration at past pioneers in all industries of life. However, I'd like to draw inspiration from le beau monde of the present, people excelling in their chosen fields (specifically fashion, natch).

Kai Milla is making a name for herself as an astute fashion designer. While the D.C. native, and wife of acclaimed musician Stevie Wonder, did not launch her clothing label until 2005, Milla has an extensive background in arts and design, and even more importantly, a great love for clothes and style. Milla realized her love for art at an early age. She sold her first painting at eight, and was stitching her first dress at thirteen; of course, the next logical step was to design her own prom dress in high school!! Brilliance!!

Milla turned her attention to fashion after she sat in on a season of couture shows in Paris. Yes, Ms. Milla, I'd love so sit in on some Paris shows myself, I'd surely find my calling was to wear each beautiful runway piece. Her designs are for the confident and sophisticated, yet fun-loving woman. This woman is ageless and elegant; and provocative at the same time, the designer reveals. Her design expertise is easily visible in her clothes: a simple striking elegance that's easily functional and beautifully wearable. And indeed, it's her design philosophy I love, a continuous desire for wearable style. I'd read that she admired the techniques of Charles James, an architect and fashion designer who studied under the revered Paul Poiret and whose construction details are taught at FIT. Small wonder, I say.

While I'm still in love with the effortless elegance of the pieces from her last resort collection held at the Cove Atlantis Resort (Keisha Whitaker, Forest Whitaker's wife — aren't they just beyond divine as a couple??!! — modeled a dress for which I'm just dying), I'm all gaga over her Spring collection as well!! Her pieces are available at one of my fave style havens — Vivre.

Spring 2008 Collection:

Resort Collection:There's my dress on the right!! ;)
Fashion week reviews will continue. NY remains one of my true loves.
Happy LFW!!








Big Sugar kisses.

chic fashion: NY fashion week mid-week review

An attempt to review a tenth of all that's going on for NY fash week:

To put it mildly, I'll be Max Azria's b*tch!! Have you glimpsed his amazing pieces for the newly revived and renowned Hervé Léger label?? Two words: Quintessential chic!! The classic banding style of the Hervé Léger dress is updated with the simplest of touches — flower and squiggle appliques, feathers, cashmere, caviar beading, beautifully arched bands in contrasting colors (against the main bodice of the dress) transforming the classic pieces into true works of art. I love it all. The question now is, "How will I lay my hands on two or three pieces if possible??" An H. L. dress does cost a pretty penny that'd kill my budget if I truly had one.

I've also been thoroughly impressed by Mses. von Furstenberg's and Reese's collections. In her show titled "Foreign Affair," Diane von Furstenberg presents beautifully cut pices in a mix of patterns; jackets/sweaters/coats feature prominently, showing up with almost every outfit; each ensemble affair is elegantly secured with a thin waist belt. Contemporary Glam!!
Ms Reese captures me with her water color palette. With much subduedness turning up on the runways — a deemed reflection of our current economy — the designer's swirls of colors is certainly uplifting and projects a deliciously fluttering repose, which manages to exude a diametrically animated revival, in much the same way that we seek relief from our currently depressed state. Other pieces in her collection show the usual greys, blacks and browns of fall, but with a glorious sheen that's anything but bleak. These two collections have previously been more in my budget — and yours — so I'm terribly excited!!
Just a few hours ago, I was fortunate to be able to sneak (seriously!!) into Monique Lhuillier's show, and I'll say the economy be damned!! Pardonnez-moi l'expression. Ms. Lhuillier's dress collection of decidedly sumptuous fabrics, sparkling embellishments and feathers, paired evenly with the clean lines for which she is so well recognized was simply breath-taking!! I could feel my heart beats as each model strutted the runway in the dresses, each seeming more intricately glorious than the previous. I doubt that I was able to take it all in, and I almost cried from the utter decadence of it all.
About an hour later, in a more intimate gathering at Stephen Burrows' showroom down in the Fabric district, I relived a beautiful appreciation for the female form. Standing only a few feet from the models as they showed off Burrows' new line Mo Lajé of simple, yet very French chic pieces adorned chain and hinted beaded garnishes, the elegant manner of the clothes was enhanced even more by the form of the model's bodies. Certainly, a testament to the acclaimed designer's practical knowledge of fluidity, the clothes had an easy movement that grazed the body ever so softly. He opened with a hammered satin shearling coat and these was a collective gasp of pleasure throughout the room. His collection fused the elements of water and earth, matte (jersey) and shiny; and a knowing sexiness and body consciousness.Fashion photos courtesy style.com
Simply chic clothing, chic fashion all around!!
At the end of the show, I plucked up some courage and went to talk to the casting director for the show Ms. Bethann Hardison, celebrated model in the sixties and seventies, and later model agent. Perhaps, almost single-handedly, Ms. Hardison has been responsible for pushing forward black models. Although she shut down her a decade ago, Ms. Hardison has recently revived her efforts to advance black representation — especially of models — within the fashion industry. Last year, she begun an ongoing series of discussions to tackle this glaring omission of color within the industry, and it can be assumed that designers are 'attempting' to take note. The fashion circle is a very slow moving one, but there's been a sprinkling of black (and Asian) models on the catwalk.

P.S. Did I mention Bethann Hardison is this famous actor's mom. I didn't. Oh oops!! We all had a crush on him back then, some of us still do. ...Back in a different world.
Mother and son :)

I'll keep you posted. Soo t..i..r.ed!!







Celery sticks (no peanut butter or dressing!!) and air kisses.