TREND TALK: HELLO AFRICA!

A NEW COOL IS RISING OUT OF AFRICA

Africa’s influence in fashion, business and innovation is growing. According to trending watch.com “…Africans are expecting brands to champion, support and cater to the identities they create for themselves.”  The new Guinness ad highlights a society of “elegant” people in the Congo known as the Sapeurs. The video follows these trendsetters who believe in ‘putting more in, to get more out.’ What shapes their identity is not economic status, but creativity and respect expressed through fashion.

Beyoncé on the cover of L' Officiel Magazine

Singer Elle Varner rocks an african teacup dress on-set of video shoot

Solange in African inspired outfit on the cover of Complex magazine

Rihanna accessorizes with African bangles during her 2010 AMA performance 

African Design Makes Waves:

As African-inspired prints & patterns are becoming more popular with fashion bloggers, trend-setting celebrities (like Beyonce & Rhianna), top stylists and designers; Africa is continues to make big waves in fashion and design. African Batik fabrics such as Dutch Wax prints (also known as Wax Hollandais), Ghanaian Kente cloth and Ankara, Kanga (a fabric from East Africa) have been worn down the runways of New York, London, Milan and Paris. The Balenciaga collection for spring 2013 featured African fashion influenced by Dutch wax prints and Ankara. H&M included African elements in their 2012 collection developed by the designers of the Italian fashion label Marni.

Recently Project Makowla launched an innovative new service that allows vendors to sell their African-inspired pieces and reach their consumers all over the world in a more direct manner. Now, people can have custom pieces based created with authentic African fabrics. The process is simple. Customers send photos of their favorite design, measurements and their choice of African fabric. A seamstress from West Africa or Ghana will then create the custom piece and ship it directly to the customer.  

Nigerian-born designer Duro Olowu is another example of the impact and cultural reach that Africa is making globally. Olowu was one of the first designers to collaborate with JCPenny and released a limited edition collection in the spring of 2013. Based in London, Olowu pulls influences from his London up-bringing as well as his Jamaican and Nigerian roots. FLOTUS, Michelle Obama, is just one of the many celebrities that have been seen in his head-turning designs. 

Duro 2013 Collection for JCPenny

Another COOL movement, Africa is Now, goes beyond fashion and includes five themes to promote innovative solutions; Africa is Sharp, Urban, Tradition Reinvented, Resourceful and Transformed. As a part of the movement, the Indaba Project has been created to feature works in design, dècor and architecture across the continent. Rebranding Rwanda is is one of the projects in the works under this project. 

Other projects include developing art exhibitions and galleries in Dakar called Dak'Art. International artists are selected from all over the world with the aim of creating a global image. There is also a kickstarter campaign called BRCK which developed the first mobile wifi device built for Africa’s most undeveloped regions.

There are so many more innovative African-influenced projects happening all over  world. To get more information on these #Certified COOL and creative projects, you can visit the official Design Indaba site. You can also get in on all the cultural vibes below with our style edit! Happy shopping and stay COOL.

THE SHOPPING BAG
#CertifiedCOOL AFRICANA FASHION FINDS 

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By: Joanne Joseph, COOL Contributor

FASHION FILES : 2012 OLYMPICS UNIFORMS SPECIAL

Continuing our Countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games features, we bring you some of the COOLest uniforms of the games.

The UK team uniforms are designed by Adidas and Stella McCartney and will be worn across 46 sports. Stella recalls her experience, “I’ve been talking to athletes for two years,” she said. “I wanted to ask what matters to them—whether it might psychologically improve their performance to look good, what I needed to do to work around the rules and regulations of each discipline, and all their technical requirements. Some told me, yeah, if I look better it helps. Others said, I don’t care how I look as long as I can shave off a second." Keeping with the 2012 London Games theme of sustainability, the designer used recycled synthetics to create all of the apparel.

Team USA's Olympics kit is designed by Ralph Lauren and Nike. Track and field athletes will wear uniforms that Nike says could shave up to 0.023 seconds off 100-meter sprint times — a difference that could have elevated Walter Dix from bronze to the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.

The Associated Press reported controversy about the team's opening ceremony uniforms by Ralph Lauren. "Republicans and Democrats railed about the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision to dress the U.S. team in Chinese manufactured berets, blazers and pants while the American textile industry struggles economically with many U.S. workers desperate for jobs" (Source: AP via ESPN online). The Olympics Committee disagreed with the criticism stating, "We're proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company, and excited to watch America's finest athletes compete at the upcoming Games in London." Any way you look at it, the designs are COOL.


Image sources:
http://trackfocus.com/usatfpro/nike-unveils-2012-us-track-field-uniforms/attachment/ldn12_rn_pr_doliver_131_mr_large
http://www.thesportsfanjournal.com/columns/ed-the-sports-fan/nike-basketball-reveals-team-usa-uniforms-for-the-2012-london-olympics/
http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikesoccer/2012/04/16/two-teams-one-jersey
Associated Press


The Olympics kit for the Italian athletes is designed by Emporio Armani. The brand released several beautiful videos showcasing the designs with striking imagery. Among our favorite details of the uniforms is the inclusion of the words to the Italian national anthem featured on the inside of the jackets.

And finally, always a personal Olympics fashion fave of ours are the Netherlands opening ceremony attire. Expertly styled, the uniforms are probably the most wearable ensembles of the games. The Dutch are generally known for their COOL and modern design aesthetic so it's no surprise that their uniforms reflect that.

See more COOL features on our blog THAT'S COOL. Just click and scroll down.  

COOL SPOTS : MUST SEE PLACES IN THE WORLD

We're celebrating our fifth year wedding anniversary this summer! Can you believe that we've been together for over twelve years and still like each other? To celebrate, we're taking a two week vacation. We really want to go somewhere cool like Tokyo or Thailand, but we'll see where the wind takes us. All this travel talk had us thinking... what are the coolest and not-so-commercial places to travel to around the world? Here are some of our faves: The Serengeti and Mauritius in Africa, Petra in Jordan, The Cave of Crystals in Mexico, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Hamilton Pool in Texas, Birdseye of City in Norway and Bagan. Wow, this may have to be a two part series because we found so many amazing places.

Don't you wish you were one of those people that get to travel around the world and rub it in everyone's face on some travel TV show for a living? That would be too COOL.

See more COOL features on our blog THAT'S COOL. Just click and scroll down.