By Yemisi Suleiman
IF there is anything African designers have never been short of, it must be a plethora of styles, creativity and the desire to stand out and while one might be tempted to say, ‘of course, but that is their job,’ it just feels different.
Because of that desire to stand out, to be different, to be originally unique whilst still being fashionably conventional has seen the boundaries of style limits being pushed time and time again, giving the audience more than what they asked for.
Now, anyone conversant with African fashion knows that most designers are versatile, love vibrant colours, bold prints and even bolder looks. The first time abaakebyequip would sweep into consciousness was in October 2023 at the Africa Fashion Week in London (AFWL).
Featuring talented, top designers, amazing piece after amazing piece flooded the runway in every colour, every design, every style possible.
But hold on! This is great, this is good, this is breathtaking, surely, everyone MUST see what I am seeing, I thought. Attracting attention and capturing the runway- and the audience as well, Ayodele Adekemi’s (Abaakebyequip) Lonpe Collection held the audience spellbound. With avant-garde styles delivered in a seemingly simple way, each piece in the collection seemed to tell a different story that managed to come together beautifully at the end.
While the collection presented at AFWL then, did not feature so many pieces- it seemed to have just enough. From Afrocentric gowns to skirts, tops and accessories- it delivered what it set out to do. Featuring fashionably and functional pieces, including everyday pieces, work wear and dinner-worthy pieces, making the collection extremely relatable.
One major thing that stood out with the collection was the cohesive use of colours- bright and energetic. This designer took a calculated risk that worked perfectly as the colourful pieces practically lit up the runway, bringing life to it. In fact, from the first piece that hit the runway, the mood for the collection and even show was set.
The very first piece, a bright red adire gown with a beautiful lacy detail on the right shoulder, came with its own unique headpiece. The gown, with a simple silhouette, looks very simple and somewhat causal, but can be dressed up or down as desired. The blue and white gown stood out with the beautiful detail at the back and bottom while the brown and metallic deconstructed gown turned heads with its uniqueness and artistry.
Made with silk and adire, the dress combines the best of traditional and modern, giving it an exotic appeal. But the crown jewel for me, was the 2-in-1 green and white lacy dress that featured a beautiful kimono made from Ankara fabric.
One could see that attention was paid to detail, the finishing and the way it gently fell and swirled on the model, creating a sophisticated look without looking over the top. To be honest, I have never seen a gown and kimono jacket fused in such manner.
A cohesive and balanced collection, each look fed into the next with not much out of place.
So, heading into this year’s Afro Fashion Show, I expected to see more from this designer who caught my eye last year. I expected to see more designs, more colours, more variety, more style and more relatable pieces.
Promising diversity, inclusion and sustainable pieces, the collection did deliver. A great blend of contemporary western style and indigenous African fabrics, this collection clearly had more variety including mini jackets, kimono jackets and Ankara palazzo sets.
The Ibile kimono jacket, paired with a white wide-leg palazzo was certainly the stand-out piece in this collection as its uniqueness was evident. The jacket, made from a brown traditional aso-oke and bright Ankara fabric certainly paired well with the white pants and colourful beads.
Growth was evident in this collection as it not just featured more edgy designs but also showed a better blend of the use of traditional fabrics. One great thing about the pieces I picked up is that they can be mixed and matched with other previously-owned pieces, even conventional, modern clothes. Also, aso-oke is a fabric that is not only environmentally friendly as it is made from organic materials by hand, it tends to stand the test of time and can be passed on from one generation to the other, so that was a great incorporation in this collection.
It also featured vibrant, colourful pieces that instantly attracted the audience in addition to what clearly seems to be the designer’s style- avantgarde designs that push the boundaries of style and fashion.
Last season, the collection featured few pieces and while it was hoped that a new collection the following year would be more inclusive in terms of showing more styles and sizing varieties, it still fell very short on this end.
The Lonpe Collection did not play up the use of different fabrics enough but neither did this new collection either. It would have been great to see the incorporation of other fabrics asides aso-oke and Ankara as well as diverse styles, especially for the gowns. They looked like pieces we had seen before- just shorter versions from the Lonpe collection.
There was also the distinct lack of accessories in this year’s collection; it is unsure if this was a deliberate move to direct attention to the outfits or a terrible oversight but the right accessories would have definitely elevated the collection even more.
The distinct lack of good shoes on the models also was definitely a letdown to what would have been a great showing. Beautiful shoes paired with stunning dresses and the right accessories would have been a winning collection and hopefully, the next outing by Abaakebyequip will feature these.