in the news: malick sidibé

[by malick sidibé, courtesy of google]

we've gushed before about seydou keita's exquisite black and white photographs here. we're very much in love with this delightful trend and mali's malick sidibé's "prints and the revolution" as seen in the New York Times magazine. his focus here is on modern interpretations of ethnic/tribal/chicafrique style (think marc jacobs + d&g a la time magazine) and its new esteemed place amongst young and upcoming. take this look, for instance:



(Aichata Sylla wears an Oscar de la Renta navy-and-white polka-dot blouse. Miu Miu black-and-white skirt. Marc Jacobs sash. Belt from New York Vintage. Miu Miu bag. Cole Haan shoes. Philip Treacy hat. Louis Vuitton earrings.)

(source: ny times magazine)

it's further evidence that the mix-and-match and throw-it-all-together trend is very much in full swing. unfortunately, not many african designers were showcased. once again, only a duro olowu polka dot jacket made the cut:



you know us -- we're all for more african designers getting their fair share of the spotlight. how much longer do we have to wait? or do we have to make things happen ourselves? food for thought.

in the meantime, enjoy the slideshow here.

xo

spotlight: mud cloth/"bogolanfini"

when we think 'african fashion', the first thing that usually comes to mind is ankara. it's everywhere and worn by every imaginable cross-section of people, at least in lagos - from the streets to runways to haute couture pieces, ankara has definitely come a long way. while we're glad to see it inspire such astounding creativity, we're also all for re-discovering other fabrics that don't get as much attention but are pretty darn fabulous as well. today, we focus on mud cloth, thrust into the spotlight (somewhat) by oscar de la renta's 'african print dress':

it's native to mali and made from "numerous applications of various plant juices/teas and mud to dye hand woven cloth"*. interestingly enough, each pattern carries a meaning and mud cloth is typically worn during special occasions. if you're interested in the history of mud cloth, you should definitely click here and here. we look forward to seeing more designers mix and match a variety of african prints in the near future because as much as we love our ankara, it really has suffered from a little too much overexposure :-) let's spread the love, people! with that said, rachel pally (queen of jersey and easy, breezy ready-to-wear pieces) pays homage to mud cloth print in her new collection, now available at shopbop:



we hope we've inspired you to step away from the ankara every once in a while :-)

xo

*source - cornell

spotlight: seydou keita

what does this photograph remind you of? if you're a regular follower of this blog, it should look pretty familiar because you've seen this tee:

well, thanks to naijablog, we were able to make this link earlier this week and we found that the first photograph is one of the famed works of the now late malian self-taught photographer, seydou keita. his method involved capturing the beauty of the world around him in the most enchanting black and white photographs that showcase the spirit and mood of a different time and place:




for us at shopliquorice, photography has its own soul and can invoke such powerful, instantaneous responses. these photos have left us with a keen longing to explore our incredible continent and to preserve our findings however we can so someone in another time and place can look back and see africa's magnificent unraveling through our eyes. we'll keep you posted. there is so much beauty in Africa. if you don't see it, it's because you've neglected to leave your eyes open...

xo

fyi: speaking of africa...

africa watch: 2 pairs of pumps, 1 dress, and 1 tee

we mentioned here that africa is very much in vogue this season and our daily dose of barneys.com echoes our sentiments. first up, peep these christian louboutin pumps going for $740 a piece:

we saw them and thought 'hmmm, adire (tie-and-dye)' and then saw them described as the 'senegal fabric platform peep toe sling back'. we're not sure if you're on the same page as us but we find 'senegal fabric' a little vague. in any case, we're excited about these pumps and thought you might be, too!

more here and here.

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also, speaking of barneys and africa, we also found that you can now shop duro olowu online here! so far, barneys only has one dress and at $7,600, we're not sure we can afford it just yet. however, it's great to see a nigerian designer with remarkable crossover appeal continue to make a huge splash abroad. here's his 'inspired by the women of bamako ' dress:



learn more about duro olowu here and shop (or e-window shop, more like) here.

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in somewhat related news:



we first found out about this tee on kanye's blog and then here. sigh. thoughts, anyone?

stay tuned for more exciting updates and thanks for all the love so far :)

xoliquoricexo