On Tuesday, September 9th, 2014 at 8pm in the Theatre room at Lincoln Center, the largest room for showing at Mercedes New York Fashion Week, crowds gathered to witness students at the Art Institute showcase their design collections for Spring/Summer 2015. There were 12 selected student designers, among them, Cameroon’s Kibonen Nfi.
You could easily see those who came to support Kibonen because many wore ankara inspired modern silhouettes to the show. As the show began, it was also immediately apparent the students whose potential would take them beyond the confines of New York Fashion Week to perhaps other larger fashion markets, including Africa’s. Kibonen was clearly one of them.
While, to the African fashion industry and African fashion aficionados, her selection of ankara fabrics was nothing spectacular, she, however, managed to put her own distinct touch in the design details in a way that was promising for an aspiring young designer. Calling her collection ‘Multifarious’ the young designer gave us a little bit of color blocking with ankara prints in her three tiered trapeze dress, some embellishments in the form of a sequin trimmed crop top with contrast hem and full skirt; and a male ankara print blazer matched with a drop crotch pant.
Most importantly, she showed creative potential with her attention to details in the execution of the pieces in her collection. Indeed, if there was any doubt that she could potentially become a well sought after designer, her finale piece: a black toghu printed bow neck, black toghu printed crop top matched with a fluidly flowing long skirt with high slit, laid any concerns to rest.
While Nigerians, South Africans and Liberians have enjoyed much attention at the prestigious Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Kibonen Nfi becomes the first Cameroonian to showcase at the renowned event; pretty impressive for a young student designer.
For more information about the designer or the collection, visit www.kibonenny.com.
-Uduak Oduok
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
