Fashion Diversity

By Deji Osobukola

Saturday 19th September, Museum of London

Mirroring the London Fashion Week, Fashion Diversity, a showcase of style and elegance was taking place afield of the Thames at the Museum of London. Mahogany Model Management, an agency for models of colour, and untold Design CIC joined forces to create Fashion Diversity, an industry event for upcoming and established UK designers. FAME went backstage with the exhibitors to catch a glimpse of the latest designs hitting the shops soon.

Shows on the day included exhibitions by Bhavna Rishi, Choolips, Molasiss, Nishanti, Sacha James, Artizina and 21 Things I Love. Honorary designers Gisella Boutique, Junky Styling and Nico Didonna also exhibited their work. The shows can only be described as brilliant with each designer ensuring their pieces boasted colour and energy. The elegant models wore the designs with grace guaranteeing that the designers work was done justice on the catwalk. A few outrageous designs made an appearance but then fashion has never been for the faint-hearted. The designs by Choolips were printed on 100% Ghanaian cotton using local Batik tradition; a wax-writing process using beeswax. The designs were bright, colourful and undeniably stylish and this talent has not gone unnoticed; last year Choolips won the ‘Barclays Innovative Business of the year 2008’ award and this year have been shortlisted for the ‘UK Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year 2009’ award. (www.choolips.com)

Former UH student and finalist of the university’s Flare 2009 competition, Layla Boubker was also at the event exhibiting her unique eye for design. Now co-owner (along with Amina Sefiani) of Artizina, Layla and partner’s designs on the day were heavily influenced by traditional Moroccan attire, the result being a stylish and contemporary look with an ethnic twist. (www.artizina.co.uk) A number of designers promoted the use of ethical products and fairly-traded textiles and condoned the use of cheap labour and unfair treatment of farmers who produce materials. 21 Things I Love were among some of the designers who opted to showcase ethical designs and it is good to finally see this attitude reaching the world of fashion. The ethical label created by Andrea Carr and Kim Fleary used this opportunity to showcase their latest collection entitled ‘No.2 Rags 2 Riches’, a celebration of natural craft. (www.21thingsilove.com) Overall the show was a success. The talent was outstanding and the designs, flawless. We only hope to see more of these designers and soon!