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Style and Fashion, Styling

Edmond, Adesuwa, and Dior. Inspiration from Africa

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Happy Sunday everyone. Trust you are all well and 2020 is off to a good start.
So if you have been checking out my insta stories in the past 48 hours then you would have noticed a debate happening that involves African fashion, Dior, and Adesuwa. After a healthy exchange via DM, Adesuwa and I thought it would be great to open up this convo to everyone. A healthy debate is would be great.
Allow me to summarise:
1. I made a few stories encouraging designers from Africa to step up their game as the world is looking at the continent for inspiration, citing Dior’s 2020 Cruise collection as an example.
2. I also encouraged consumers to support African craftsmanship by purchasing goods esp emerging talents.
3. This led to me citing Dior’s prices as high compared to local artisans, tailors, and designers in Africa. Dior’s prices are completely justifiable as they are a luxury brand.
4. I then dug up the old Dior Cruise 2020 collection video Narrated by Adesuwa where creative director Maria categorically denies the collection was not African inspired. See video here
5. Adesuwa went on to imply that now that Dior is in Africa, the continent wouldn’t be “this mystical place that no one knows about”. I strongly objected to this statement and others like it in the video.
To be clear
I welcome
  • The fact that Dior worked with artisans in Africa
  • Inspired by African patterns and Silhouettes and craftsmanship
  • In fact, I welcome and celebrate everything Dior did creatively with this collection. I also do not have a problem with the price tag as it’s in keeping with Dior.
I Object to
  • Dior’s Creative Director not referencing African inspiration. Outrightly denying it’s not African
  • Adesuwa implying that Africa is a mystical place that no one knows about before Dior came in.
A gentle suggestion was for Dior to have highlighted the stories of the artisans they worked with to create a clearer picture of the origins of the collection.
As you can see from the screenshots and videos, I truly encourage a healthy debate/discussion on this topic.

What do you guys think? Does Dior have anything to answer for? Could Adesuwa have worded her description better?

Thoughts below
Art and culture, Styling

From peasant to stylish hat & everything in-between, a Beret’s journey | Cuts for Him

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What we know today as the Beret was called felt hat hundreds of years ago. Yes, the Beret has been around that long. In fact, according to fashion historians, the Beret has been around for millennia.

This disc-like shaped headgear made of wool and worn by anyone wanting to look like an artist, a revolutionary or simply wanting to keep warm, looked nothing like its original form. It is said that the beret (then called felt) is a crossbreed between the floppy Petasos hat and the cone-shaped Pileos hat. Yeah, that’s right, I had to google both these hats to see how they looked like. Judging from their shapes, I wouldn’t argue against fashion historians. At the time, this headgear was made from felt as it was simple and cheap material to use.

The 14th and 15th centuries saw the hat been worn in Europe by farmers and artists alike. At the time, the felt was very Continue reading From peasant to stylish hat & everything in-between, a Beret’s journey | Cuts for Him →

Style and Fashion, Styling

Break up to make up in style | Cuts for Him

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It has been a minute since I did any proper blogger around here. Many apologies to you all. I curated a big event on the 20th of September with the theme ‘Fashion as An Art Form’ for Fashion Industry Insiders. My biggest event to date and I am thankful to God for an amazing team that made it a success. You can check out some of the pictures on the @fashionindustryinsiders page.

Based on the topic name “breakup to make up”, I am sure some of you thought I meant this in a relationship context lol. Far from it. I think I would leave that for your relationship gurus out there.

Break up to make up is specifically talking about suits and how to get the best out of them. The typical suit by definition is a full garment with Jacket and trouser made out of the same fabric. Full suits are generally formal or at least smart depending on the type.

If you are a ‘tailoring look’ kind of person as myself, there is one skill you must master. Breaking up full suits to form mix and match combos. This skill is particularly important if you do not have a many of suits at your disposal

I don’t know about you but I think there is so much fun in deconstructing (as it were) a suit to form a new Continue reading Break up to make up in style | Cuts for Him →

Style and Fashion, Styling

Cords are back with a bang | Cuts for Him + Ralph Lauren

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Where do I start? From the beginning, I guess :). Ok, attempt to make a dad joke failed, now back to the real business.

Corduroys were very popular in the 80s and parts of the 90s. As with everything fashion, they were no longer trendy and you wouldn’t be caught dead in them.. Up until two seasons ago, they had a reputation for being for granddads and grandmas. Fast forward to now when Cords have become cool again. Major fashion houses have added them to their collection for Autumn/Winter 2018/19.

I personally think Cords are more versatile than many fabric types out there. Especially for men, they can easily be dressed up or dressed down. Much easier than denim as they sit Continue reading Cords are back with a bang | Cuts for Him + Ralph Lauren →