Opening night for this year’s AFRICA Fashion Week NY was nothing short of magnificent. The runway for this year’s AFRICA Fashion Week NY was filled with unique designs, and a palette of nude colors complimented by bright, bold prints.
Designers included the following:-
Francis Hendy
Having appeared in Women’s Wear Daily, DNR and Rolling Stone, Francis Hendy’s collection was nothing short of innovative at AFNY with a common floral theme throughout many of his pieces. From floral to white ruffled dresses and white pants suits, there was a strong summer feel to much of his designs. Some of the male apparel also included solid white and stripped blazers.
MAFI
This Ethipoian line brought clean designs with a touch of urban style. Stripes were a common theme with loose fitted mini-skirts, waterfall tops against stretch-ankle length pants that gave the collection a ‘Downtown Manhattan’ city feel.
Kibonen
Kibonen came onto the scene in full force with bursts of color and print. With Ethnic printed shorts, skirts and accessories Kibonen Nfi definitely brought Cameroon to the forefront. Of course Nfi had something great in store for the men as well with full-printed, European style fitted suits.
Geraldo Fashions
Founded by three sisters, this line intertwines tree unique viewpoints to make a cohesive union of classic, tranquil and casual designs. Onlookers felt each part of this unique line with Ancient Rome inspired, high-split skirts, dreamy sheer dresses and floral suit ensembles.
Bill Witherspoon
This Harlem-based collection had a ‘Genii’ feel to it with many looks containing loose-fitted ankle-heavy pants and loose v-necks and button-downs. Standout pieces included leather fur-interior waterfall jackets.
Atolle Collection
This design house is known for using Africa’s finest materials including: Ankara, Aso-Oke, Kente etc. combined with 100% Linen, silk and Chiffon. Many of these designs contained solid, poignant colors from sky blue to fuschia. Apparel included floral, laced ankle dresses.
Henna Flower
Henna Flower lived up to its name, speaking volumes through it colorful ensembles. Many designs consisted of pixie-bottom, layered, ethnic printed dresses. There were also regal inspired flared ankle dresses.
Fienes Couture
This fashion house went with exotic, yet refined in black and white with sparks of zebra prints for the night. Lovely ruffled tops with pencil skirts and straight-laced dresses went perfectly with fall inspired black fur, accented jackets.
Mesanga Fashion House
This line was very consistent with every design in blue and gold. Apparel ranged from orange and gold printed bottoms with blue laced dresses and loose-fitted blue pants.
Photos Credit: Africa Fashion Week NY
