In case you didn’t know, the entire month of March is women’s history month, and March 8th was Women’s International Day! All this is dear to my heart because it’s a celebration of, for lack of a better phrase, GIRL POWER.
In celebrating this month, I got the opportunity to collaborate with my favourite designer of African design, and create my own collection Introducing . . .
DesignsByArewami is a label dedicated to merging couture designs with African fabrics. Elizabeth, the founder of this label, is a fireball of raw entrepreneurship willpower and talent. I found out about Elizabeth through my older sister. Bolade came to me one night, super excited about how she had found the best designer who knew how to make any item of clothing and tailor it to her curvy body type. At that point in my life, I had given up on all Nigerian designers in Calgary after multiple disasters and yards of wasted fabrics. The icing on the cake was when a designer convinced me she could make my ideal grad dress and proceeded to completely botch the design. The memory of that traumatic experience made me super reluctant.
By the time I finally went to Elizabeth and tried on my dress, I was sold sis. Elizabeth was, and still is, able to get inside my head and see the vision I want to create. Our friendship bloomed into a partnership when I joined her in putting on the annual African Fashion Week Calgary runway show. It was only fitting that us girl bosses get together again for a collaboration.
So Let’s Talk About This Collab!
My collaboration, set to launch this Friday, has 3 pieces – 2 dresses, 1 crop top. I wanted to create one dress for SLAY, one that was girly, feminine, and playful, and a crop top for a casual day, that also gave you the option of dressing up.
The first dress, as I mentioned, is for SLAY. I was inspired by the design of House of CB and I wanted to see a design like that in African print fabric. I feel like the print adds more fire to an already great design and it will have you walking differently!
The second dress screams spring with the splashes of yellow and orange, the full skirt, and the off-the-shoulder neckline to show off those collar bones that have been hiding all winter! In this dress, I feel like I should be taken on a bougie picnic somewhere.
The best part of this dress, POCKETS! I personally hate carrying purses lately. I’d much rather have some deep pockets to hold by phone and cards. The great thing too is that since the skirt is full, the pockets won’t bulge out.
My last piece from the collection, is a pretty crop top. This crop top features tie-up sleeves that ae tailored to your comfort. It also has a beautiful sweetheart neckline which I adore. I love that it can be worn with any colour of bottoms because it’s predominantly black with hints of white, and a dash of pink.
I cannot wait for you guys to try these pieces. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback. Please don’t forget to tag me (@ladiestakenotes) and Elizabeth (@DesignsByArewami OR @queenarewami) on Instagram so we can see how you brought your style and flavour to these simple pieces.
This collection launches this coming Friday, March 20, 2020. Get those wallets ready!
P.S – Check out my Instagram page to see a beautiful video of these outfits on display in real time.
xx Abby
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