The summer clock couldn’t tick slow enough to accommodate our growing and busy schedule this season. As the days get longer, so will our blog section, there’s more news to share with you than ever before. As the blog pages of our website are the newspaper of SHERENE MELINDA, this announcement would be the front page. SHERENE MELINDA will proudly be joining the ranks of some of the world’s top and emerging designers on the catwalk at Africa Fashion Week London this August.
What is Africa Fashion Week London?
AFWL was created by Ronke Ademiluyi in 2011 and since then has grown from strength to strength. In 2012, there were 20,000 people in attendance and, now in its fifth year, is currently Europe’s largest catwalk event of African and African-inspired fashion.
In the words of creator Ronke Ademiluyi, ‘The African Fashion Week started in 2011 and we saw the necessity to have an Africa Fashion Week in London because a lot of our designers are not well represented there’.
The inspiration behind AFWL comes from the desire to give established and emerging African or African-inspired designers the stage to showcase their fashion on a worldwide scale. The AFWL has a global reach and annually runs alongside Africa Fashion Week Nigeria and Africa Fashion Week New York.
Sharing the stage
SHERENE MELINDA is excited about the opportunity of exhibiting alongside and sharing the catwalk with designers such as Ade Bakare from Nigeria and Adama Paris from Senegal, both of whose designs have already gained large popularity amongst New York and Tokyo boutiques.
(Ade Bakare)
We are also looking forward to sharing our experiences through networking with emerging designers such as Aimeku, a newly established African inspired clothing brand based in Taiwan.
(Aimeeku)
Another thing we cannot wait for is the chance to join a community for two days of likeminded people who use the inspiration of Africa to drive the design behind each and every piece.
(Adama Paris)
Some things other designers had to say:
“The whole of Africa inspires me. The new t-shirt line, Africa My Heritage, has symbols from West Africa and each one means something.”
Sylvia Owori, Sylvie Boutique
“The collection is inspired by Sierra Leone. All the material used for the bags, the necklaces, and the slippers is African based.”
Fashwa Luke, Akwaba Designs
When and where?
The event that is fast becoming a pinnacle of London’s fashion calendar will be hosted at the prestigious London Olympia, a building that is starting to feel like home to us!
It will take place on the 7th & 8th August.
In the spirit of keeping fashion on display, something we strongly support, we are happy to announce that the event is open to the public.
Where can you find us?
SHERENE MELINDA will be exhibiting at the Africa Fashion Week London with a stand to showcase our vibrant springbok handbags to an audience of customers, retailers and buyers. We also have a spot on the event’s catwalk show, where our bags will be walked down the runway and snapped up by the press and a huge audience of some of fashion’s greatest influencers. We cannot express our excitement in words about the prospect of having this level of exposure and being a part of a global event that identifies with our brand values and the inspiration behind each of our designs.
As a last note we would like to say that we are also looking for a sponsor who is a good match and would be interested in having their fabrics / designs compliment our handbags on AFWL’s runway this August. This gives the opportunity to also be represented on marketing material and on the catwalk screen. If you know anyone who is or the idea of AFWL interests you then we would be happy to hear from you, please get in contact by clicking here.
We are counting the days and sleepless nights until the 7th August and we hope that some of you can come join us in celebrating this terrific achievement.
For more information on AFWL watch the video below:
Although the front page of the SHERENE MELINDA newspaper has been published, there’s still a great deal of news to come. Stay up-to-date with all the latest developments at SHERENE MELINDA by following us on social media.
Do you want to own one of the handbags that will soon be featured on AFWL’s runway? Click here to enter our June competition to win our yellow clutch bag.
Image credits:
Africa Fashion Week London
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