By Lizbeth Kariuki Summertime is the best time to hold a high tea. The rain from the night before had cooled the earth, making it a pleasant day to mix and mingle with the who’s who of Nairobi’s high fashion. The 7th edition of the Fashion High Tea was one of 2017’s most anticipated fashion events, and it did not disappoint. The Zen Garden always makes for a great venue. Its beautiful fauna provides an earthly sense of calm, away from the bustle of the city outside. As you walked into the venue on Saturday, you couldn’t miss the tangy aroma of chicken satay on the grill – and the food section is pretty much where everyone was obligated to begin their afternoon; we needed our energy before walking through the numerous designers stands. This year’s selection of savory bitings included tastes from Asia (sushi & maki on ice, spring rolls and noodle boxes) and America (pigs in a blanket and bite size burgers). Then came the impressive selection of desserts from mint Oreo macaroons, pink passion pavlova’s to kahawa cakes. It was foodie heaven. To wash it all down, a wine bar, a cocktail bar, and a champagne bar were on hand. The organizers provided plenty of water this year, which was a plus as the sun did not let up. There were 22 boutiques offering the best in clothing designs, jewelry and accessories. From Suave by Simran Sethi who displayed a new collection to Carole Kinoti and Afrostreet Kollections, Kenyan talent was recognized. Especially on the Fashion High Tea runway. The best part of about the high tea is always spotting the latest trends in the market. African prints and fabrics as always, ate the go-to fashion style. Bold colors were also very much in favour for both men and women. The high-low skirt or top, for some reason, is still trendy wear. I also noticed a lot more off-shoulder tops and dresses, but not enough crop tops (as may have been expected). The gentlemen did not disappoint either, with their tailored suits and trendy eyewear. The pompadour haircut (where hair is clipped close or faded on the sides and kept voluminous on the top) was definitely this year’s most popular hairstyle. The Fashion High Tea was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. This edition was in support of the Imani’s Children’s Home in Kayole. Review also on Kenyabuzz.com. Thanks for stopping by Fab One's!
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The Miss Kenya 2015 is set to be a red carpet event which will be held on 8th August, at Pride Inn Westlands. This glamorous event will see 18 finalists battle for three crowns i.e Miss Kenya Earth, Miss Kenya Grand International and Miss Kenya International who will work together across the many issues as may be found relevant and congruent to the contest. The winners will later compete in the world finals in Australia.
The girls were selected early June and have been taken through thorough training making them set for the finals. Tony Chirah, the product manager for Miss Kenya says that the beauty pageant surpasses the superficial search for a beautiful girl and goes beyond to find a young lady that is empathetic and informed “ we are looking for young leaders who are conscious about the environment we live in, seeks social good and promotes values and good living in general among peoples of the region and the world around.” Kaymu is among the partners for the event. “We are very proud to have partnered with Miss Kenya this year” Says Terry Mwangi, Kaymu’s Public Relations Manager “Among the things we will be offering, we will also train the girls on entrepreneurship skills to prepare them for Long-term School and career achievement” You can buy the tickets at Kaymu.co.ke. 1000Kshs for a regular ticket and Kshs3000 for VIP (with Dinner) See posters below for more details. By Lizbeth Kariuki Over two thousand girls had poured their hearts out into campaigning to become the face of Maybelline in Kenya. The competition that was run online gained popularity very quickly and technically cemented Maybelline's footprint in the Kenyan fashion industry. At a glamorous fashion night out, Maybelline Kenya hosted Kenya's media fraternity and celebrities to a fashion show hosted by FAFA where they finally revealed the winner of their competition - Stephanie Ikundo. Aside from the venue, that left much to be wanted, the entertainment was great and so were the drinks from 4th Street which were in serious supply. Congratulations to Stephanie, and I look forward to reviewing Maybelline products on my blog The Liz Biz. Every year Kenya's fashion elite and fashion enthusiasts converge for Tribe Hotel's Tribal Chic fashion show. Here are the hits and misses of the event that happened this weekend. The Hits: The designers aimed to please, and that they did. Here are a few highlights from the pieces that ran down the runway. Designers included:
The Misses: Poor time management usually kills any event, and that's what happened this time around. Although the show went on well, it could have been even better had it not began after two hours. The MC's this year were Susan Lucky-Wong and Annabelle Onyango. Apart from being inaudible, they're jokes fell flat and did not make sense. However, the two were styled to perfection. All in all, the event is a great networking avenue, and a lot of that happened. Tribal Chic on Instagram Images courtesy of Radek Art Photography. Thanks for stopping by Fab One's.
By Lizbeth Kariuki Do you need a plan for the weekend? Kenya Discovery Fashion Weekend is an event organized to showcase upcoming designers from Kenya and seeks to promote new and raw talent who have what it takes to revolutionize the Kenyan fashion industry.
The proceeds from the event will be going towards helping children with down syndrome/autistic children and children of special needs. Along with that, the event organizers plan to raise enough funds to provide sanitary pads to girls who cant afford this basic necessity and empower these women who have been thrown out of society due to unfortunate circumstances. Due to the fact that it is October and this is breast cancer awareness month, the fashion show will be dedicated to all those women who have fought and survived breast cancer. Tickets are being sold for KES 4000 which include 1 welcome drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and canapés. Along with that, one stands a chance to win one of the various prizes from the show. For every 10 tickets purchased, one free ticket and a free bottle of wine will be given away. Thank you for stopping by Fab One's! By Lizbeth Kariuki As the Kenyan fashion industry steadily grows, there is a movement mainly pushed by Kenyan business entrepreneurs and fashion designers to keep creating "fashion week's," to publicize the creativity of local designers. At least, so I would like to believe. From "Nairobi Fashion Week" to "Swahili Fashion Week" to "Strut-it-Afrika Fashion Week" and even "Kenya Fashion Week," you name it. The talent is there no doubt, and designers flock to showcase their designs during any of these fashion week events. However, I believe these fashion week events are turning into money-making venture's and that is it. Rather than pushing forward the Kenyan fashion industry to the point where there will be one Kenyan fashion week that global designers, celebrities and media will dream to attend, it looks like it will be a long time until we get there. I mean, if you think about it, Kenya has all the elements that could make for a stunning global fashion week. With our various national parks, ideas could range from holding a fashion show in the wild to holding a spectacular one at the coast (thinking along the lines of Milan fashion week). What we have now in the industry is an entrepreneur in the fashion industry will organize for a fashion week event, for probably 3 days at most and ensure a couple of designers exhibit, put a large price tag on the main fashion show ticket and the show does not even "wow." Case in point, the recently held Kenya Worldwide Fashion Week, struck the wrong cord with guests who paid Ksh8500 to attend. The event was created by Sonu Sharma of Just Like That Ltd. who was also the brains behind Trendz Kenya Fashion Week. One unhappy guest posted this and received some support for raising this issue: "Just got home from attending the Kenya Worldwide Fashion Week event at The Tribe. Unfortunately another disappointing event. Ok, yes, it rained and that put a damper on the evening....but apparently the organizers felt that it couldn't possibly rain (despite the fact that it has been raining every day for about a week now) because they clearly didn't have a Plan B. So, we started about 90 minutes late with no announcements about what we should expect in the meantime. Then when it does start, there were not enough seats for those of us who shelled out 8500 Ksh....and there was NO control over prohibiting those who did not pay for a ticket to just waltz in and take seats from those of us who paid. I was seriously rooting for a model to slip on the runway and fall into the pool (without getting hurt) just to liven up the event. And why in the world would you have each model do two turns on the runway for every outfit when time was clearly not on your side? It was boring and mundane and sucked the life out of the crowd. There were definitely some nice designs on display....but all of the event's shortcomings overshadowed their beauty. We needed to be captivated and excited and inspired. Instead we were just cold, wet and tired." It takes a lot to me a whole fashion week interesting and captivating, as this will also help sustain and possibly grow it's audience in future. It does not make sense to only hold one for the sake of making money. Thanks for stopping by Fab One's. By Lizbeth Kariuki Truworths at Sarit Centre played host to a fashion show displaying their new fall/winter collection on Wednesday 4th June. As the weather has clearly demonstrated, it is about that time to get dressed for the cold season. Truworths, a brand name under the Deacons Kenya family, is a household clothing brand name, known for their stylish and great quality clothes. Every time I want a statement piece that will last for a long time, such as jeans or trench coat I head down to Truworths. The event was a lovely affair, organized in conjunction with stylist Connie Aluoch of Connie Aluoch Styling Management, who also gave styling advice to the ladies in attendance and Lintons Beauty. Take a look at the highlights below. Thanks for stopping by Fab One's.
By Lizbeth Kariuki The Fashion for Peace gala happened last Saturday the 31st at The Oval. The event proved to be the perfect way to end May and welcome June. You can catch the highlights here. All photo's are courtesy of Thompson Photography.
Thanks for stopping by Fab One's. By Lizbeth Kariuki FAFA: The name is synonymous with organizing the exquisite “Fashion for Peace” event that brings together emerging and established fashion designers in Kenya and Africa. The organization was founded by Ann Mcreath, also the founder of well-known fashion brand KikoRomeo. This year, “Fashion for Peace” 2014 Gala will be held at The Oval in Westlands on May 31st. As the fashion show theme suggests, the event will be in support of peace. The focus this year is the South Sudanese conflict, therefore proceeds will be going to the charity: Seed of Hope. Furthermore, there will be South Sudanese designers featured during the show, designers from Botswana, as well as from East Africa, bringing it to about 18 designers in total. One can look forward to the sports fashion show with athletes taking to the runway. The belief of FAFA is that peace is fundamental to development and prosperity and thus far the organization has championed fashion and arts in the country. This is all while supporting peace efforts ever since 2008, when the country had the unfortunate Post-Election Violence events. The board consists of professionals in the Kenyan Arts industry; Doudou Sarr, Thierry de Oliveira, Patricia Okelo, Hebret Lakew, and Lara Mastropasqua. Catch the highlights of last year’s edition below: By Lizbeth Kariuki The East Africa Fashion Week was held this past week, with the event activities beginning from Thursday 8th May. Refer to my previous post to find out more details about it. Here are the highlights from the runway. Images Courtesy of RadekArt
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