AMFW 2012: Day 3 - Maki Oh (Nigeria)

Click to enlarge. Extensive reviews of top moments to come.

- SLiq

MTN Lagos Fashion and Design Week: Maki Oh

Shop Liquorice is live and direct at the ongoing Lagos Fashion and Design Week, bringing you crisp photos from every angle our brilliant photographer can manage. Today, we begin with the sensational and breathtaking Maki Oh -- one of the continent's wunderkids of sorts, who has an intutitive knack for merging contemporary and traditional, especially in this collection. Expect a full-blown Shop Liquorice review, but, in the meantime, enjoy the gorgeous details - from the raffia in-built in a pair of organza shorts, to a sensational velvet green dress.

- SLiq

Photos: Tunde Adedeji (Unleash Media) for Shop Liquorice

Who Wore What: Oroma Elewa in Maki Oh F/W 2011

Oroma Elewa - Editor-in-Chief of Pop'Africana & Maki Oh muse - is pictured here at a dj'ing gig wearing a sheer shirt from Maki Oh's F/W 2011 collection. Trust Maki Oh to make pieces that are anything but standard. If anyone captures the spirit of Maki Oh, it's Oroma, and it's always a delight to see her wear her support. In case you missed photos from Maki Oh's F/W 2011 show at Arise Magazine Fashion Week in Lagos, enjoy the coverage on Fab Magazine's blog and One Nigerian Boy. It'll do your soul some good.

- SLiq

Photo of Oroma: Pop'Africana

Maki Oh Runway Photo: Fab Magazine

Who Wore What: Oroma Elewa in Maki Oh

Oroma Elewa - editor of Pop'Africana and Maki Oh muse - wore a piece from Maki Oh's Fall/Winter 2010 collection recently. Trust her to rock the heck out of it with spark and spunk for days in tow. Love it. Love her.

  

Are you feeling it?

XO

Photos of Oroma:

Pop'Africana

Spread Love: Maki Oh//Arise Magazine

We're enthralled by Maki Oh's ability to turn Africa's rich history into pieces of wearable art. Their spread in the latest Arise Magazine features one piece that's a great representation of what Maki Oh does - pieces of broken calabash are stitched together to create something we haven't quite seen before. While her feature (below) says something to the effect of Maki Oh looking to make more ready-to-wear pieces, we hope she doesn't tone it down too much because we're certain she's on to something.

[Click to enlarge and read the story]

XO

Many thanks to Divine from Maki Oh for these photos :-)

Sweet Tooth: Silky Smooth

[l-r: Duro Olowu, Orleans Designs, Jewel by Lisa]

Our latest Sweet Tooth craving? Silk. This season, patterns are transferred to this new medium, resulting in a slinky vibe infused with all the ingredients that make for instant, understated glamor. Also, while "tribal" motifs are typically printed on cotton, more and more designers are exploring the place where print and silk mesh with magnificent results. Here are our picks up close and personal:

COLLAGE 1

a) Duro Olowu struck gold several years ago with his kimono-style silk printed dresses and the love affair with silk continues. We love this floral maxi-dress and the mixture of vivid print with a more subdued vintage-like print.

b) This scarf from Orleans Designs (*edit* now Eki Orleans) features an Africa-inspired pattern on silk, quite like several of the dresses from this design house. If you're looking for an accessory that pays homage to a vibrant continent or just an accessory that's bound to make things pop, you've come to the right place. [Buy here]

C) Jewel by Lisa is famous for exploring new mediums and elevating African Print from something commonplace to something beyond. This silk top is absolute perfection and the richly embellished neckline just might make us hunt it down.

[l-r: Nasty Gal, Tiffany Amber, Maki Oh]

COLLAGE 2

d) The love affair with silk started with a major crush on basic silk tanks with breast pockets and this tank from Nasty Gal is the perfect encapsulation of our craving. Basic and ultra glam in the same breath and very high on our wish lists this summer. [Buy here]

e) The Tiffany Amber brand has found its way into yet another Sweet Tooth spread with this beauty. The design house collaborated with renowned artist Kolade Oshinowo and printed one of his masterpieces on silk. We recently saw this piece at one of Tiffany Amber's stores in Lagos and were in awe.

f) Leave it to Maki Oh to create a jumpsuit that features African print of the sort that's not quite mainstream just yet. Maki Oh dips into the ancient world of western Nigeria's tie-and-dye/batik procedures with this one, creating a piece that's a perfect fit for the cultured and stylish. [To order, e-mail info@maki-oh.com]

Hope you enjoyed :-) Anyone out there craving silk as much as we are?

XO

Lookbook: Maki Oh//Autumn/Winter 2010

A few months ago, we featured Maki Oh's debut collection, "Everything in Proportion." A few days later, our superior internet snooping skills (lol) led us to the lookbook for the same collection, which we posted prematurely and subsequently took down. Here is the final version. Click photos to enlarge:

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Photographer: Jan Lehner
Model: Sycha Mubiaya @ D1
Stylist: Chukwunwinke Obi

Hair & Make-up: Natasha Zaki

Jewellery: Pebble London & Maria Zureta

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Easily one of the most exciting lookbooks EVER. Incredible photos, incredible model, incredible CLOTHES...gosh, incredible EVERYTHING! Maki Oh is truly an art and culture lover's dream. Every element of this shoot came together brilliantly to tell a story of glamor and luxury, Africa-style. We want to be the girl in the story and we want to wear all her clothes! Mission accomplished, Maki Oh. Absolutely fantastic work. Questions? --> info@maki-oh.com

XO

P.S. Many thanks to Maki Oh's team for giving us first dibs on these photos :-)

Who Wore What: Tokini Peterside in Maki-Oh (and Tiffany Amber!)

We always get a little thrill when we spot pieces from our favorite out-of-Africa designers off the runway! Tokini Peterside of Fashion Auction House (and the scrumptious Chopaholic blog!) is pictured here at FAH's latest event, Eden, from which just under N3,000,000 ($20,000*) was raised to support Genesis House, a rehabilitation center for women. Fabulous!

Ms. Peterside wears a sheer, mesh tank from Maki-Oh's "Everything in Proportion" collection, and she carries a Chanel-inspired ankara purse by Tiffany Amber (N44,000//$293*). A quick word on these purses -- they certainly deserve their own post! They're a creative collaboration between Tiffany Amber and Ohenaba Design of Ghana and they symbolize (at least to us) the rapid "Africanization" of everything -- and why not?

All said and done, do we love Tokini's look?

XO

Photo of Tokini is courtesy of Elan

*Rates vary according to market prices. We've used a N150 to $1 rate here.

Spotlight: Maki Oh F/W 2010

MAKI OH PRESENTS "EVERYTHING IN PROPORTION"

ABOUT MAKI OH [By Amaka Osakwe]: "Aroused by a strong sense of identity and African culture, the brand creates alluring conversational pieces that fuse traditional techniques with detailed construction."

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There's hardly a day that goes by that we don't make a new Africa-related discovery. Our latest "find" comes from a word-of-mouth recommendation - a good friend attended a fashion presentation in Lagos recently and wouldn't stop gushing. So we decided to pay attention.

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[photo courtesy of flickr user versartile]

Maki Oh's F/W 2010 12-piece debut collection draws its strength from a fusion of art and tradition, resulting in bold, crafted pieces that are a unique and refreshing take on traditional fabrics like indigo cloth [popularly called "aaro" <ah-row>] common among the Yoruba people of western Nigeria. Modern design elements are infused with cultural undertones - draping, silk and sheer detailing co-exist alongside aso-oke [woven cloth], adire [traditional tie-and-dye] without the slightest hint that they don't belong together.

[photo courtesy of flickr use versartile]

According to Maki Oh, the collection successfully captures the concept of "coming of age" because it captures "self-discovery through a gradual systematic cloaking and adornment in the ornamental sensuality of womanhood, as seen in the rites of passage around the continent...[including] the progressive rituals of the dipo ceremony of rural Ghana..." This is a collection that's bound to engage those among us with a penchant for history and even those among us who simply have an abiding love for all things beautiful.


Here's a closer look at the pieces:

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a. Loose harem-style pants [aso-oke in the first look and indigo cloth in the second] with tapered cuffs. The indigo pants are particularly charming paired with a top fashioned from "hand-cut and stitched calabash pieces."

b. Indigo and other shades of blue vie with sheer tops for attention. The circle motifs seen extensively throughout this collection speak to "the partial nudity of the initiates throughout the dipo ceremony."

c. Dresses feature the predominant colors in this collection - beige and blue. The sheer panels and motifs that adorn the beige dresses are extraordinary.

d. Jumpsuits with clinched waists and varying necklines. The piece on the extreme right is to-die-for.

Absolutely brilliant and definitely on our list of out-of-Africa/Nigeria brands to watch. How impressed are you on a scale of 1-10?

o o o

Connect with Maki Oh:

Website: maki-oh.com

Mobile: +234 704 267 6744

E-mail: info@maki-oh.com

XO