Exclusive interview: AMFW 2011 Designer of the Year Award winners– Kluk CGDT

By: Ali Afegbua

Meet Malcom and Christian, the brains behind the Kluk CGDT brand and also the AMFW 2011 Designer of the Year Award winners.

What was your favorite piece on display at the Arise Magazine Fashion
Week? 

We loved Ituen Basi and Lisa Fulawayo and  Jewel by Lisa very much.
Our collection is one of our favourites that we have ever done and we loved
the luxury of the Afghan embroidery we used.

How did you feel about the level of recognition Kluk CGDT received at the AMFW? 
We were so overwhelmed, we thought we would never get a mention, as we
are in a foreign country. It was almost more recognition than we receive in
South Africa.

What has been your proudest moment since the establishment of the Kluk CGDT brand? 
When we started we wanted to reach a level of Luxury and exclusivity,
and offer an international standard of design - I think by getting the
designer of the year award against designers from Paris, London, New York
and Lagos, shows that we are getting closer to this goal. Winning the award
made us very proud. Being invited to show in New York for the second time,
makes us very proud

What are your plans to expand from SA, to West Africa maybe? 
We have a lot of Nigerian, Angolan, Ghanaian customers that visit our boutiques in Cape
Town and Johannesburg already. We want to remain exclusive, so we encourage
more people to visit us in South Africa. We have also been looking into
representation in Lagos for Trunkshows.

What do you think makes Kluk CGDT stand out in the competitive industry of fashion in Africa?
I think we aim to make the customers happy, we look after
our customers and give them the service they would like. Our designs evoke emotion, We want our ladies to feel fantastic when they wear our
clothes

What is your ultimate goal for Kluk CGDT?
We would love to find a backer to
take us to the next level, maybe a store on each continent.
Thank-you for all your encouragement.

TIFFANY AMBER: THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES!!!

By Ali Afegbua

In 1998, Folake Folarin-Coker launched Tiffany Amber revolutionising the fashion industry in Nigeria. Having spent most of her childhood in Europe, and exploring diverse cultures she has successfully translated her love for different cultures into an  iconic fashion brand in Africa.

Every collection shows the designer’s love for luxurious fabric and intricate embellishment from all over the world whilst at the same time instilling her African heritage to produce timeless , feminine and effortlessly stylish pieces.

Tiffany Amber is an international award winning label - an accolade that was received by designer Folake Folarin-Coker who was awarded Designer of the Year 2009/2010 at the Arise Africa fashion week in South Africa.

More recently at the  Arise Magazine fashion week 2011, it was all dazzles on the first day of the fashion extravaganza as Tiffany Amber, sent models out to the runway in sequin numbers and bold colors  ; here we  see a few floor length numbers, and we are absolutely loving the relaxed tailored floor length silk dress. Might we be seeing a bit of androgyny floating around at Tiffany.Amber? fashion is always bending and dulling the boundaries between male and female, just look at the lovely black blazer dress. Amazing Collection!!

Klûk CGDT shines at the ARISE Magazine Fashion Week 2011

The South African fashion label Klûk CGDT at the  ARISE Magazine Fashion Week 2011 was simply extraordinary. Klûk CGDT swept us into a world of dreams, magic, and romance. with the dramatic and flamboyant masterpieces on display. showcasing the different facets of their label – Bridal, Couture, Evening wear, and Ready-to-Wear.

Klûk CGDT is doing as a wonderful job at improving the South African fashion industry with the level of creativity and elegance in the designs that were on display, the guests were taken through different levels of the designers glamorous fantasies. A beautiful journey indeed.

Klûk CGDT also, won the ARISE Magazine Africa 2011 Designer of the Year award, Lifetime Achievement Award and will be part of the ARISE collective show at the New York Fashion Week in September 2011. check out some of the designs, simply divine.

LADY GAGA MAKES HER CATWALK DEBUT IN PARIS

If the singing thing doesn't pan out, Lady Gaga can always fall back on modeling.

The pop-shock sensation proved she's got the stuff to make it in the cruel world of fashion with her high-impact catwalk debut Wednesday at Mugler's fall-winter 2011-12 ready-to-wear show.
Dressed in a sheer black top and painted-on pencil skirt, Gaga drew on her wealth of experience with extreme footwear and managed to negotiate the towering platform shoes better than some of the models.
Legions of fans mobbed the show's venue, a gym in a working-class neighborhood in eastern Paris, hoping for a glimpse of the singer. It was clear that many of the industry insiders also made the trip into the fashion backwater exclusively for Gaga — who'd announced she'd be walking in the show on her Twitter account the day before.
And she didn't disappoint. Bursting in halfway through the show with a formidable contingent of bodyguards, Gaga hopped onto the catwalk — and struck no-holds-barred poses in front of the even more formidable pack of photographers. She puffed on a cigarette, blowing clouds of smoke toward them and then was off: bumping, grinding and strutting her way backstage, only to emerge in an all white ensemble topped off by a lampshade hat.
It was a blockbuster show. Indeed Gaga looked more comfortable than many of the models, who had trouble embracing the nasty girl role they'd been told to play. Their tiger growls at the cameras flopped, their gyrations were forced — and Gaga stood out as the A-grade performer she is.

ARISE MAGAZINE FASHION WEEK WILL BE HELD IN LAGOS, FROM 10TH-13TH MARCH 2011.

ARISE Magazine, Africa’s first global style and culture magazine, has announced the debut of two spectacular events. Following a successful run of three seasons (in 2009 and 2010) of the ARISE Africa Fashion Collective at New York Fashion Week, Bryant Park in New York, and the successful sponsorship of the inaugural ARISE Africa Fashion Week at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 2009.

The first ARISE Magazine Fashion Week will be held in Lagos, Nigeria from 10th to 13^th of March 2011. This Fashion Week will have 50 Top African designers selected by Invitation only, by a panel of experts.

As with ARISE Africa Fashion Collective, this showcase will come as the fitting end to the traditional fashion season after Paris Fashion Week. The ARISE Magazine Fashion Week will end with the ARISE Magazine Fashion Awards on the night of 13 March 2011.

The Venue & Designer Lists are yet to be confirmed, but in true ARiSE style we are sure it’s all going to be A-list, and even better now that it’s home in Africa.

Award-winning, London-based show producers, Bacchus, will produce the entire ARISE Magazine Fashion series of events.