New York, NY (January, 23, 2013)- World Fashion 4 Development (WF4D) has revealed the impressive lineup of African designers slated to showcase their imaginative and unique collections during its Giving Back Bazaar, a two-day fashion fundraiser showcase being held March 18th-19th at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul, South Korea.
The eclectic list of designers and labels whose creations have been confirmed to participate at the event come March are April Rust, Babatunde, Banke Kuku, CLAN, Duaba Serwa ,Kiko Romeo and Koshie O. True to WF4D’s focus on Africa, these featured designers either hail from or are inspired by the style and culture of a wide range of African nations including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. These designers will either take part in the bazaar or the Charity Couture Gala Dinner Show event on Monday, March 18th 2013 at 5:00pm.
About April Rust
Born from an infusion of creativity and an appreciation of fashion, April Rust is a women’s ready- to-wear line with vibrant accents and stand-out pieces. The idea behind the creation of the line is to bring out a woman’s chic, feminine and playful side.
About Babatunde
Born in the depths of central Johannesburg in 2009, Babatunde has grown from a headwear experiment into a concept brand. With the goal of being a global brand, Babatunde fuses African colors and prints with Western Shapes. The prints represent the uniqueness of each human being. The colors embody the future. And the shapes express the vision and structure of success and prosperity.
About Banke Kuku
Banke Kuku Textiles is a UK based company specializing in printed and woven textiles for the fashion and interior industry. Lidewij Edelkoort, one of the world’s most renowned trend forecasters, has described Banke Kuku’s designs as ‘Exquisite Piece of Art’. The designer has had vast experience in the industry; working with DuroOlowu, Jasmine di Milo, Burberry, Jewel by Lisa, Lot 78 and more. Her print designs have graced the catwalks of London, Paris and New York and woven interior fabrics have participated in furniture shows from Milan to Africa.
About CLAN
CLAN is the brainchild of sisters, Teni, Aba and Tiwa Sagoe, daughters to Deola Sagoe of the eponymous and legendary fashion house, which channels their collective fashion heritage to bring their own vision to the fore.
About Duaba Serwa
Duaba Serwa is a mixture of innovative intricate detailed designs, textures, structure and new types of volumes, Duaba Serwa’s story is about bold effortless beauty and the brand prides itself in the construction of elegant tailored style lines that cater to the woman who prefers understatements elegance to flamboyant extravagance.
About Koshie O.
Koshie O. integrates African themes and aesthetics with modern designs. The fashion line blends an African focus on luxuriant fabric and earthy symbolism with more fluid and practical modern designs required by a contemporary lifestyle. In some sense, Koshie O. is an echo of many of the globalizing currents that are simultaneously shaping Africa and introducing her kaleidoscope to the modern world.
About Kiko Romeo
In 1996, with a desire to help create jobs in rural areas and make unique, high quality products for retail Scottish born Ann McCreath, after doing aid work in Kenya, launched her own fashion house under the name “KikoRomeo”, which means “Adam’s apple” in Kiswahili. Hoping Kenyans would take pride in African-inspired contemporary fashion, and promote their economy through buying locally made fashion, she set about making ethically sound products with inputs from community artisans and women’s groups, which she retailed through her own shop. Since then KikoRomeo has continued to offer ready-made garments, cut to international fashion trends, using African made fabrics, often with handcrafted details.
WF4D’s Giving Back Bazaar is co-hosted by the Korea Formal Style Association (KOFOSA) and with the support of South South News, Advanced Development for Africa (ADA), Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, ONE ASIA and Japan Formal Style Association (JAFA).
Photo: Duaba Serwa
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