Afric Collection

The highly anticipated fashion festival in Douala, Afric Collection, is finally here. This event has become a fashion ritual in Cameroon with all upcoming designers rushing to get a place for the show. It is organized every February with the intention of promoting African culture.

Whether its sexy, trendy, classy or funky, every young designer is venturing to portray their version of African culture blended with their personal style, and you can only imagine how vibrant and exciting the atmosphere is. The Afric Collection festival is truly an exotic display of the beauty of African fashion and culture.

Some however are not here to display or to be known, but are here for inspiration from fashion students who come up with fresh and unique ideas for the show.

Maison d'Afie will be keeping you informed as the days go by with all the latest pictures and fashion gossips so follow on.

Ashu Weds Senge...the background work

Planning a wedding? Easier said than done!

I felt very honoured when my childhood friend Senge decided to use Maison d’Afie to design and create all her friends of the bride clothes. Initially I had very ambitious ideas of parading the girls in the most outrageous looks and of course showing up in the most fascinating dress but after spending oodles of my precious time in the market and in the sewing room, I realized a lot of the plans I had for the wedding were unrealistic given the time I had to prepare and Ialso had to remind myself that this wasn’t my day and my focus really had to be on making the ladies look pretty and dressed. Yes simply dressed.

The more time I allowed my creative juices to flow, the better I got at it though I changed my mind about designs and accessorizing fabrics every other day. It was a tough task but I have to tell you it was enjoyable and I’d do it all over again.

I’ts always easy when you know who you are designing for and when everyone of them is really cooperative and understanding but on the downside, you get asked to make last minute alterations that impinge into your delivery schedule.

For those of you who know Senge, you’d admit with me that she is one girl who’s always known what she wants and stands her ground. She is very understanding but does not compromise on her standards and I had to meet up to this. Imagine how much pressure this put me under…Frida was absolutely adorable running errands with me, sending text messages when I was too stressed up to even think and just being encouraging and supportive.

In the end we conquered fear, anticipation, anxiety and delivered. I am glad the designs matched the theme of the wedding and most especially that the bride was pleased with the work.

We are now open to more orders for 2010/2011. We will be accepting 10 weddings this year and we are already at 4. Once we hit our target for the year we will no longer accept to do any other weddings. Every bride has a dream wedding and we want to make this dream come true so we give you this lone chance to boss us around unless if you need expert in house style counseling for your friends and family. We may choose fabrics for you if you do not have your own fabrics but we strongly recommend you use our designs as it gets really tricky when trying to design someone else’s idea.

Hope to hear from you on the website or on Facebook.

www.maisondafie.com

HAITI NEEDS HELP

Happy new year to all of you. God is good all the time.

I want to take this chance to thank you all for your love and support and for helping Maison d'Afie kick off last year. We have been involved in plenty of events in our few months of existence and have many more booked for 2010. We were very involved in Senge's wedding and an article regarding that will be following soon.
We thank God for his love and mercies and for the choices he makes for us.

Some of you know my dad works with the UN in Haiti and just about everyone is following up the horrible news that has been unfolding in an already devastated country. I thank the church for all the support they have given me and I continue to pray that God blesses each one of us and uses us for his purpose.

I was unable to rest when I got word of the quake in Haiti. My dad usually calls during times like that to reassure us but we could not get through to him and neither did he call. My cousin in Paris called to tell us that daddy was meant to be in the office as they had a phone appointment for 5pm-6pm Haiti time. That was very uncomfortable to hear because according to the news the quake began at 4.53pm.

I tried praying but couldn't as tears rolled down my cheecks nonstop. I had all sorts of broadcast sites open. BBC, CNN, MBS, you name it and there was no good news forthcoming. We had already established one thing, that daddy was in the office. My father in Christ then called to tell me it will be well and this made me cry even more. He said there was no need to cry as crying couldn't change the situation but prayers could. I spoke to my friend who had informed me of the quake and he suggested I send Dad an email. As I typed the mail saying " Daddy we desperately need to hear from you" I thought of how this would be the last mail I sent to my beloved dad and how there were so many other things I wanted to tell him.

My cousin called again and this time I had just read on some website that most UN workers were killed as the UN premises were reduced to dust. My heart sunk. It was reported that all in the office were likely buried in the crash and likely dead. The chief of staff was reported dead. My cousins urged me to stop reading any further information or watching tv and just pray. I closed everything and mustered every bit of faith I had and said a prayer. Then another one of my cousins who works at the UN called to ask what my dad's staff number was as she had managed to get through to Haiti on the phone. I logged into my inbox to look for it and there was an email from my dad, a thousand things raced through my mind as I opened the email. I thought the UN may have logged into his email box to send the dreaded announcement and as I opned it, it was him saying he was fine.
I have never been so elated.

Daddy is a born again. Has been since 1994 and Psalm 91 says those who dwell in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty... I encourage you all to please read this Psalm.

This has been a reinforcing message from God to me saying if I keep my trust in him and obey all his commands, he will never forsake me. God is soo good and sooo loving, he is beautiful in all he does. I can not even thank him enough.

Below is a copy of the mail my dad sent

By the grace of God I am fine. I had just got home and was trying to settle in when all of a sudden I found myself dancing uncontrollably. I prayed God to take control and managed to wade myself from the room to the exterior of the building, to the road. My number is 509xxxxxxx

Thanks for the concern.
God is Great and He is showing us His Greatness and love. Let every member of the family and friends as well as our supposed enemies, abandon wickedness and turn to Him wholeheartedly.

Praise the Lord!


Emmanuel Divine

I felt a need to share this with you Let us continue to pray for the rest of the families affected and for those in Haiti.

Haiti needs all the help you can offer now. They need food, clothes, water, shelter and all the things we take for granted. They need love from all of us. Your contributions will go a long way. They are in desperate poverty.

We are organising means to send help to Haiti and we will communicate this to you as soon as this is sorted. In the mean time we recommend the Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/

I know this may be redundant as a lot of you have already made contributions but please if you have not now is the time to show some love. We will organize something for helpers in Cameroon soon.

Against all odds

I cannot tell you how excited, giddy, nervous and blessed I feel right now! Maison d'Afie has kicked off full swing and the orders just keep coming in. I am so happy you like my creations and the comments have been very encouraging. I am already designing the next creation which we hope to release in December.

When you have a vision, go for it. I have been toying around with this idea for over 4 years now but I am sure now is the right time. I look forward to the challenges we will face from November when we begin trading. This period has given me the chance to formulate processes and document everything we may need when the we set the ball rolling.

I couldn't have done any of this without you all. God Almighty, my family, my friends, my colleagues, my haters, all of you. I love you all.

Yesterday I finished, probably the hardest dress thus far. It was surely a combination of I being sick and running a fever while trying to finish an ensemble to be worn at a wedding today. I do not have my sewing machine on me so I had to sew it by hand (well isn't that what couture is all about?) and I got only four hours sleep a day all week. It was all worth it. I absolutely love the way it fitted on Flore, and the satin detail just gave it that extra oomph!

I feel really blessed to have all these beautiful friends and lovely people coming into my life at this point. Manyi's a gem. I am lucky to know her and be friends with her and Jordan played his role too. I needed all the pestering and poking from my baby boy. This week when everything seemed to be spilling over Manyi rolled her sleeves up and mustered every bit of sewing skills she had to sew the hooks and eyes and the zips. Plus she gave me that extra perspective you need as an artist .
And then there's the mysteries doctor/nerd on FB with all the connections and lovely words. Thank you to you too!

Now as the Maison d'Afie team prepare for our grand debut , we will be taking you through it all. This will give you an insight into our thought process and a glimpse of the creation process.

Keep your focus on God regardless of the circumstance.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Hi Readers,

We've been quite busy at Maison d'AFIE, building the website and it is here now. We are not yet trading in the web boutique but that too should be ready soon. Thank you all for the support and words of encouragement. Its been a long time coming but we did it in the end. I hope we reach across borders with our designs and contribute in developing Africa. Join us in making Africa famous!

www.maisondafie.com

MY Fair Lady

While we are at first ladies may I have the honour to introduce to you, our Indomitable fashion Lioness, Chantal Biya ...

Chantal came into the scene some years back (1996) and wasted no time getting her wardrobe set for the role. Being married to a head of state means spending time in the spotlight and Mrs Biya makes quite an impression with her extravagant hairstyles and exotic wardrobes.

Weather calculated or not, Chantal is a fashion risk taker and steals the show where ever she goes. While her sense of style is Hit or Miss, Chantal has got the confidence of a peacock and does not subdue to all the gibberish fashion rules from so called makeup artists. She stays true to herself. This is what we call style! No wonder the Cameroonian beauty pageant winner won the heart of the president too.

I must say her joyful and sparkle looks make me believe she'd be so much fun to hang out with. Chantal's got it all, gigantic hair, bright clothes, and some attitude. This Opera Diva wouldn't trade her life for anything less.

Try peeling your eyes off her hair for a second and focus on her clothes, don't they look really tasteful? Chantal on several occasions has been called the most glamorous First Lady in Africa, to which I totally agree.

Really, you’ve got to give it to Chantal, for bravery, if nothing else. I do love a bit of OTT (Over The Top) , and this lady’s got it in spades.

What we wear

In recent times bold prints, riotous colours, sleek Safari and chunky African inspired jewellery have been seen from haute couture to high street fashion chains. Undoubtedly each piece of African fabric from across the continent has a story to tell. For example the lavish waistcoats of Tunisia are decorated with fish, birds, flowers and crescent patterns to bring luck to a bride and groom and ensure fertility.

The Kente in Ghana is a sacred and royal silk woven clothe worn in times of extreme importance.

The Asoke (pronounce Ashoke) cloth which is crafted by the Yoruba ethnic group of Nigeria is very sturdy and is mostly reserved for religious rituals, funerals, and very formal occasions.

The Isidwaba is a pleated skirt made of cowhide and softened by hand for Zulu women.

The Toghu by the North Western people of Cameroon is material with different hand woven motifs usually telling a story about the particular tribe in the area. The traditional colours include black and patterns woven in orange, red and yellow. It is symbolically worn on special occasions by very important personalities such as a chief. Nowadays however it is accessible to all.

The batik (called wax in Nigeria, cicam in Cameroon and Ankara by some other West Africans) is a wax resist dyeing technique used on textile. Its meanings are rooted to the Javanese idea of the universe and it is predominantly made in indigo, dark brown and white with certain patterns reserved for royals. These fabrics are found in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, the Caribbean Islands and Cameroon to name a few.

the silk thread decoration on the stunning 'Asherah Nahuak' which is worn on the third day of wedding celebrations in Egypt, and is said to represent the colours of ripening dates which in turn are presented as gifts to ensure the fertility of the bride and groom.

So next time you buy a piece of clothe, stop to think about its origin, the signifance of the prints and the texture before you release your cash :-).