FashionistaGh Shopping festival 2014............ have you saved enough??

By: Frederick Tetteh

Ghana's biggest fashion event FashionistaGH shopping festival #fghshop is back. It will be the third edition of the #fghshop and the venue still remains the Event Haven trade fair la, Accra, from 28^th to 30^th March.  The FashionistaGH shopping Festival is a large exhibition created to host fashion designers, lovers, Entrepreneurs under one huge tent to shop and network.  This year's edition promises to be exciting, entertaining, spiced up with variety of activities. Last year saw amazing designers like Afro Mod Trends, B'venaj, Chic accessories, #fghshop14 promises to be much more exciting with new designers and fresh ideas. Looking forward to having a fulfilling Easter? Well I suggest you attend this year’s edition of Fashionistagh shopping festival. Don’t forget to come along with some extra cash and grab all those beautiful clothes, shoes, bags etc. at affordable prices.

28^th to 30^th march, trade fair LA Accra.

Below are some photos from last years event.

 

Last day of 2013! Recap! shall we?

All too soon the year has ended and I guess we were all quite trilled. Glad to have been a part of making your year an exciting one, bringing you the trendiest in Fashion from Ghana. I will just provide you with a summary of this years activities starting from the camp of Trendsandblendsgh. We started this year with an Editorial on Afro Diva Nally, we shared her hair story and organized a whole shoot in collaboration with Ghanaian fashion brand Sarah Christian. 

We also interviewed some Designers and models a was present at Ghana Fashion and Design Week, Glitz Africa Fashion Week but however couldn’t make it to Citi FM’s Expressions of Accra. Finally we had two different giveaways in collaboration with Sarah Christian, Afiyo creations and Fuschia. I keep saying “we” and I know you are wondering why. Well, we represent a whole team (OAB Photography’s Ben Bond and Fredrick Tetteh have been of great help this year.

Look Books: Fashion designers were at their peak this season with really creative collections. Sarah Christian’s “Ego “, Ameyo “reflections”, Afiyo creations “daga” Christie Browns “Dure”, Alikoto’s “Nkyinkyim”, mSimps “Krai Coon”, kama by kilson’s “rogue” , Afro Mod’s “Nyornu”collection  these are few of the collections I can remember off the top of my head. Lets not forget Deborah Vanessa’s entrance in the industry and we definitely can’t forget her designs nether can I forget those from Abrantie clothing.

 

Events:  I think fashion events this year were Fab. It started with the FashionistaGh shopping  festival at trade fair which was exciting, Pop up shops were not left out this year. Glitz Africa fashion week took place at the Accra International Conference Centre and I must say I enjoyed every bit of it. It was a 3day event with over 50 designers from Accra, apart from the lateness, which this time was the fault of the attendees, I think it was a Great Event and Mai Atafo from Nigeria and House of Eccentric from Ghana nailed it. Organizers should work on their media tags. Having the name of the media house present on the tag is as important as the picture. 

The Retro Fab fashion event a private fashion show held at La villa boutique Hotel OSU. I loved their runway set up in the pool and also loved the clothes from some major boutiques in Accra, must say it was an exhilarating event. I am hoping it will be a bigger show next year.

 Finally, Ghana fashion and design week took place at the plush Moven pick Ambassador Hotel, this year's event was okay, it had some flaws and I know the organizers realized and will work on it for a better show next year!!!! p.s I love their media tags #simple 

Trending: African wax print hit the peak this season! Everyone joined in the craze. This year we saw bags, shoes, clothes, earrings all made out of the African Print, some labeled it as Ankara but should it really be called? I was quite thrilled to see Printex and GTP rebrand! We are still love their new fabrics and hope they keep up with the growth.

 Models and photographers were not left out this year.  This year brought a lot in a lot of models!  I think there should be a body to organize all these models and brand them.  Congratulations to Mecy Ashie and Prince IB for winning the model of the year award at the Glitz Africa Fashion week 2013. We appreciate all you models that have worked tirelessly this year, more grease to your elbow. I am sure next year will be awesome for all of us. More shows, articles, look books, giveaways etc.  There is still definitely room for improvement from all angles! So lets get to work people.  

Big Thank u to  Sarah Christian for clothing me this year!!! 
Thank u all for always reading my post. Any highlights of 2013 you want to share? drop it in the comment section . 

Medaase

Follow us on

 Facebook: TrendsandblendsGh . 

Twitter :@Tnbgh

IG:trendsandblendsgh
Happy New Year everyone !! Blessings

REFLECTIONS SS14 -AMEYO (GHANA)

Falling in love with every costume in a designer’s look book is possible. Here is another look book that can leave you love struck, whatever kind of love it is? I hope you  purchase one costume and you get me one too(Christmas wish list )

In the words of AMEYO

“REFLECTIONS SS 14 collection was inspired by the nature and cracks from a broken mirror. And it led us to create our first print fabric design.

 

“ As we seek perfection we often fail to see that perfection is a mirage in the distortion of imperfections. Humans are as flawed as the pieces of a broken mirror, but in our little pieces of brokenness we are beautiful.’

 

The collection is effortlessly feminine with bold and colorful print patterns. The broken effects of the print and feminine silhouettes symbolize the journey every woman makes in perfecting herself and learning who she really is. We love and celebrate the curves of a woman and every piece adorns and tells a story of the Ameyo woman in a different way. Although mostly dresses the collection has different style lines that we hope will appeal and excites to every kind of woman.”

 

Shot by @amfoconnolly

model :Adoley Pappoe

Model Spotlight: Innocentia Yebuah

We absolutely love our models in Ghana , that's why we work hard to bring you up close of personal stories from them. Their job may sound glamorous but sometimes its not how it sound. We had an interview with Innocentia Yebuah a young and beautiful  Ghanian model . We hope you enjoy reading  and if you have any questions for her, kindly drop it below in 
the comments section.

 

TnBGh:  How long have you been in the Modeling industry?

MissIno: My first fashion show was in 2011(Vlisco fashion show), but I been actively involved for almost 2 years now.

TnBGh: Is it your full time profession and would you describe it as a lucrative venture in Ghana?

 MissIno: No. I’m a student, and then, a model. I definitely don’t think that I can make a decent living off what I earn. At 21 yrs with no professional experience and excluding my basic day-to-day needs, yes it makes pretty decent extra money to put away (or in other cases buy Brazilian hair). I do think that it does open doors if you’re adequately prepared. The people you meet, contacts you make, experiences you have, that’s priceless.

 TnBGh: Take us down memory lane, how did it all start for you?

 MissIno: I’d been considering it for a while as I got more and more drawn to fashion. I went to a fashion designer, Brigitte Merki who was making a garment for me then. She recommended that I go to an open casting as she saw my interest and perhaps raw talent. I did and voila! I landed my first show.

 TnBGh: In every venture there are challenges, have you faced any and share with us how you have overcome such challenges.

 MissIno: My first challenge, which I think is even more widespread in the mainstream modeling industry, was trying to fit in and get noticed. The industry is such a tightly knit one that it is very difficult to break in. That in my opinion is not necessarily a total disadvantage as there are many girls who see it as a quick means to fame, a passing obsession. Again there are several models that in my opinion are way too old to model. They use their contacts to get jobs, which should rather be given to newer fresher faces. That’s what’s made the Milan, Paris, New York and London fashion weeks what they are, fresh faces. Naomi, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Tyra are not on every catwalk nowadays, for a reason. My final and perhaps the most ridiculous is the perception that people have about models. Yes it’s true that many are ignorant uneducated disguised prostitutes but people have to know how to decipher between those who are and those who aren’t. 

TnBGh: Share with us some of your most treasured and unforgettable experiences since you begun.

MissIno: Being actively and closely involved with the first ever Ghana Fashion and Design Week would be my most treasured experience. It felt like being part of something really special. 

TnBGh:  What is your take on nudity in modeling?

MissIno: Honestly, I’m not a fan of nudity in general because of my personal beliefs but I do appreciate all art forms that execute concepts using nudity tastefully. If it is the only way to effectively carry across the message, that’s fine, although there are usually other ways. It’s a matter of choice. 

TnBGh: So many Agencies are springing up, do u think these modeling agencies are serving their rightful purpose in this country?

MissIno: I started out without going to an agency to spend 14-18hours every week cat walking barefoot. Yes you do need to learn certain things and get the right jobs but most of these agencies only cheat the models and never provide good jobs and build castles in the air for girls who don’t have the tiniest bit of talent or features for modeling. Plus, many designers still pick the old over-aged models and their friends or family members who look good in clothes to model.

TnBGh:  In a sentence, share with us anything you would want our readers to be aware of?

MissIno: Modeling should never be your only dream. Many of the supermodels we know now were discovered by chance, by serious talent scouts in unsuspecting situations. They were not running around from one agency to the other trying following empty promises. If you have it, you have it.