"Testing, Testing..."

Recently, it's been all about the hustle. You see, as an emerging creative, you have to be able to network effectively and be proactive about seeking opportunities for the furtherance of your career. Well, I have been doing just that! Building on the momentum of the V&A Event (Afropolitans) that I styled at, I've recently collaborated with some photographers, designers and other creatives on various projects.  One of these was a Test Shoot where I worked with a fantastic photographer named Lucy Eleanor Brown for the mutual development of our portfolios.

So, a couple of sunny Sunday afternoons ago, I traipsed over to Bank, London - my Stylist suitcase in tow - where our location shoot would take place.
The theme of the shoot was edgy, urban with a chic twist and I'd managed to"pull" some really cool and unusual pieces that I thought would work well and fitted with the concept. I was excited about unleashing my creativity!

The end result was fab! The model - Charlie Jackson (formerly with Storm Model Management) was fantastic and extremely photogenic (as you will see below). She really had that special "something" and contributed massively to the success of the shoot.

We were all pleased with the outcome and I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project!

More to come..watch this space!

For the full collection of images from this shoot, please visit my Portfolio page.



 

Style File: Victoria Beckham - Pregnant And Still Prim!

It has to be mentioned: Victoria Beckham does look pretty good in her pregnancy! She seems to have had a fortunate escape from signs of swollen ankles, bloatedness, skin break-outs or any other horrid ways that the body can sometimes alter during those 9 months of having a "bun in the oven" - much to her relief, I'm sure.
What's more, her wardrobe doesn't appear to have altered much either during her pregnancy - no frumpy floral maternity dresses or detestable dungarees for this singer turned fashion designer. In fact she has managed to maintain her impeccable style with ease throughout her pregnancy and be as consistent as ever with churning out one stylish outfit after the other. Clearly, the nonchalance with maintaining a great appearance due to the exhaustion of pregnancy is completely alien to Victoria. But hey, would we really expect anything less from this style icon who is reknowned for her efforts to always look her pristine best?!
Here's some of her latest "get-up":


I love this structured jacket - the silk lapelle and broad shoulder detail adds interest and is great for those with narrow shoulders. She has teamed it perfectly with the over-sized clutch.

 

Don't you just love that little rectangular bag? Very versatile.
I need to get myself a pair of skinny leather trousers!

 

There's just so much I like about the first outfit - the woollen jumper dress: the loose-fit and how comfortable and easy it is to wear. Also the fantastic way that she has accessorised the dress with that lovely scarf in a low-contrast colour (thumbs up!), the suede ankle boots (absolutely fab!) and tote bag. This dress is a good option for slim, angular or cuvacious (slim) body types alike and is great for the AW 11 wardrobe!
The leather trim on that casual LBD (second image) adds a touch of pizzazz to what would otherwise be a very plain dress, and again, those great ankle boots.. Love!

This is quite inspiring and I hope to look equally as good when I am pregnant!



Afropolitans - V&A Museum

Last Friday was truly the highlight of my Fashion Styling career thus far and I find that I am actually still slightly overwhelmed by how amazing an experience it was!  Ok, so let me explain: I was invited to come on board as the Lead Stylist for a fashion installation at an event called Friday Night Late: Afropolitans, which was held at the prestigious V&A Museum, London.
It was an evening exploring African photography, fashion, style and identity in celebration of the exhibition Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography.

I had the pleasure of collaboratively working with the Show Producer - the lovely Minna Salami (MsAfropolitan) and Ola Shobowale, who was  the Creative Director and host of the show.

I was absolutely thrilled and very honoured when Minna called me, one evening, to ask me to be a part of this fantastic project.  It was great to throw ideas around with her and Ola and be involved with organising certain logistics.
As Lead Stylist, my role, in particular, was mainly to liaise with the MUAs, hair stylists, the shoe sponsor, my assistant etc and brief them on the concept for the outfits and make-up that Minna had chosen. 

I therefore put together a style board and make-up concept board (below) which provided a useful visual aid for the MUAs and hair stylists and made it easier to share with them the looks that she wanted to create:

Afropolitan Style Board

Make-Up concept board

On the day of the event, I was almost ready to combust with excitement!

It was my first experience of having so much freedom to be as creative as I pleased and put together outfits using beautiful pieces from talented African designers: Eki Orleans, KemKem Studio, Duro Oluwo, Chichia London, Beatrice K Newman, Bestow Elan, Tiffany Amber and many others.

Accessories were by Bianou, Hayley Kruger et al and the fantastic shoes were kindly lent to us by Mosaic.

The requisite purpose of the Afropolitan fashion installation was to harness and display the essence of African beauty, elegance and splendour. 

So my whole aim was to do my best to fulfill that by enhancing the model's natural beauty by creating a variety of outfits teamed with accessories to suit their body-shape, height and complexion. I wanted to ensure, above all, that each model looked strikingly beautiful, distinguished and somewhat endearingly unusual in order to ultimately emphasise the uniqueness of the beauty of African women .

Compounded with this, Minna and I also discussed creating original and eccentric looks that the ordinary woman would not necessarily wear, which I believe I managed to pull off!

Here is a taster of the finished products:

KemKem Studio (left)

Beatrice K Newman

Eki Orleans

Chichia London (jacket) and Zebra (trousers)

Beatrice K Newman

Neckpiece by Bianou (left)

Headpiece by Hayley Kruger

The Kora player - Jally Kebba Susso. Models strutted down the catwalk to his renditions

Some of the Designers: (l-r) Hazel of Eki Orleans, Christina of Chichia London and Erzumah of Bestow Elan and MUA Misha Terret-Njie

Myself with Shingai Shoniwa from the Noisettes (centre) and models

Dream team: myself, Minna Salami (Show Producer) [middle] and Ola Shobowale (Creative Director).

[I will aim to add a few backstage shots as soon as I can!] For more catwalk images, please see my Styling Portfolio.

What an amazing event it turned out to be! The response and turn-out was incredible, so much more than we anticipated! The Raphael Gallery where it was held was completely full to capacity, to the point where, unfortunately, some were unable to enter!

We have received rave reviews and there have been requests for us to recreate a similar event at some stage..so watch this space!





[Images courtesy of Photographer Rob Sheppard - www.robsheppard.com ]