One of my designers of the moment has to be Ozora. The things that are most striking about Josephine Sey's designs are her silhouettes and the use of bold colours, particularly in her more recent shows. Much of the collection shown at Africa Fashion Week London was crafted from light and floaty materials, particularly the full length gowns which swept around the models feet as they graced the runways. This, however, did not detract away from the sense of power Sey incorporates in her designs and in her choice of model. The image below perfectly surmises my point:
At Africa Fashion Week London Ozora was right on the money in terms of trends of the moment. Sey had the summer 2011 'Ibiza party' trend for bold colours and dresses and tunics like the one below covered:
Admittedly, the two designs above are very 'western' and it could be argued that Ozora's collection was lacking African influence in areas. I, however, disagree. I believe Josephine Sey has taken elements of West African style and translated them in to dresses that encompass both traditional and contemporary ways of dressing. The yellow and blue dress below illustrates how Sey has taken a traditional shawl (usually worn as part of a skirt, top, headdress ensemble) and modified the look, incorporating the blue shawl into the dress itself, thus creating a hybrid look that is both unique and up to date.
'Unique' is definitely a term i'd use to describe the fusion of African Fashion and the West. There is quite simply nothing like it.
Please take a look at more of Ozora's amazing designs at their website: http://www.ozora.co.uk/
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