How To Stay Trendy Without Breaking The Bank by Amira Muhammed

Everyone loves that feeling they get when they get up in the morning and dress up wearing that sleek Armani suit or if you're a lady, those sexy studded Monolo Blahnik shoes that make you feel like you can conquer the world and more. I mean, I'd also pick that over anything, any day. But let's all have a reality check. With the economic meltdown and limited funds, we can't all have that kind of luxury. So I'm here to give you my ‘trend-setters’ tips on how to stay trendy without breaking the bank.  

§  Splurge on classic inexpensive pieces that won't go out of style. You can wear these with a lot of outfits so when you wear them repeatedly with other options, it'll change the whole look entirely.    
  

§  Shop in vintage stores! Yes, I know this sounds ridiculous but those pieces might just be the classiest most inexpensive clothing you've purchased in a while. Lol.    

§  Accessorise as much as possible. This is a very good way to dress up your outfit but don't forget, accessories can be very tricky and we don't want to go out looking like drag queens now, do we? Let's not overdo this part.

§  Don't throw away attires or give them out in a hurry just yet! Because once in a while, they might be changed to look brand new, using them as another type of outfit.

Trends travel every way so let's stay trendy without burning up our resources in the name of fashion!            


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PEOPLE OF ABUJA

• Ladies In Abaya. Wearing the Abaya has become a very popular fashion trend among ladies in ABUJA.

• These Happy Friends are proud PEOPLE OF ABUJA.

• Happy Friends love Selfies. Very common with PEOPLE OF ABUJA.

• A Saxophonist doing his thing; entertaining the PEOPLE OF ABUJA

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• A road side trader in Jabi ABUJA

International Institute For Creative Development (IICD) by Fatima Yaro

Most times in Nigeria the Government organizes everything art and culture related and it is for this reason that having a private organization take it up is impressive. International Institute for Creative Development, IICD, is an organization that started in 2009 with no building, no portfolio and no briefcase to its name, in the founder’s words. It moved to 4 Oguda Close, off Lake Chad crescent, Maitama in October 2013.

IICD's mission is to train, promote and present both artists and all kinds of creative persons for worldwide visibility. Its vision is to develop and ensure the Nigerian cultural community effectively meets the global demand for art and creativity along with its application for the development of humanity.

IICD receives emails from interested persons who want to showcase and exhibit in their center. It looks at the date proposed by the person and proposed duration of exhibition, then decides whether or not the center will be available and if it is, the number of days the exhibition can go on for. Subsequently, cost evaluation and renovation is carried out to make sure the work comes out perfectly for viewing. IICD has a social media platform for promoting and creating awareness via its facebook page such that if the interested person has a target audience, the IICD can help in reaching out to them through that platform. It also organizes press conferences by media houses for the person exhibiting.

I visited the center on the opening day of LIVING MY TIME ZONE exhibition by a Norwegian artist, Vigdis Holen. She is a professor at the Ostfold University College, Norway. Her projects are based on research and experiments of over thirty years in the interrelated fields of art, design, media-architecture and the realm of living things. Holen works on art exhibitions involving all continents.

Her works are of pictures she took starting from the North Pole. She did this using an art projector which shows the world from the top, and now her stop is at Lagos, hoping to continue down south to Cape Town and then go all the way round to Alaska. The first time she came to Nigeria was in 2011. That trip was about networking and getting all necessary contacts. The second trip was to put up her work, and now this is her fifth time here.

The Norweigan ambassador, HE Mr Rolf Ree, was present and so was the director of Culture and Tourism along with reporters from media houses and art lovers as well. There was fine wine, delicious finger food and good music for the guests to enjoy.

ZEEY SUNMY

 MODEL PROFILE:

Name: Zainab Yunusa (Zeey Sunmy)
Height: 5"9
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Brown
Statistics: 35 - 27 - 35
Agency: Zahara Model Management.

Zainab Sunmisola Yunusa is a student of University of Abuja currently in her final year studying B.Sc. Microbiology. She gave modeling a try in 2013 and quickly  realised that modeling was for her, there and then deciding that she will not end it as a trial as she had discovered her passion for it. Her first fashion show was in November, 2013 at one of Abuja's biggest fashion shows - RUNWAY4. She has participated in other fashion shows as well, including the 2014 Africa Fashion Reception in Bayelsa.

To Zainab, modeling is chasing her dreams till she gets to the peak. After earning her degree, she is planning on taking professional modeling as a career. She has walked for Iconic Invanity, Zizi Cardow, Keto Couture, Rabesque Designs, E4MA Designs, Wanger Ayu, Hall of Peters, Keepeekee and many other designers.

As far as looking forward to being a supermodel and having a role model is concerned, she points out, "I do not have a particular role model because there's always something different to learn from each. The likes of Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bundchen, Iman, Agbani Darego, Alek Wek, Tyra Banks, Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, Chanel Iman, Cara Delivingne, it's a really long list!". One of her favorite quotes is from Tyson beckford. "Chase your dreams". She believes that with faith, hardwork, patience and determination, all things are possible.

Twitter: @ZeeySunmy
Instagram: ZeeySunmy

The Duchess Of Kukawa

Q: Who is The Duchess of Kukawa?

The Duchess Of Kukawa is also known as Khadijah Usman Shettima. I am the last of 10 children. I am from Borno state and a proud Kanuri, born in Maiduguri and bred in Kaduna, but I currently call Abuja home. I am a proud Abusite (schooled in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria) where I obtained my 1st degree in Geology. I am in my mid-20s.

Q: How did you come up with the name?

I'd have to give credit to my older sister, Aisha, for coming up with the name. My dad is from Kukawa in Borno State. As she put it, rambunctious as I was being born after 2 boys, I still showed promising glimpses of ladylike, regal behaviour. Her words, not mine! So she gave me the moniker & it kinda stuck. 

 
Q: Major challenges so far?

 The major challenge as with all business owners first and foremost, is poor supply. Getting well-trained and efficient tailors is also a challenge.

 
Q: What inspires you?

 Most times, what I wanted to wear didn't mesh with my tailor's vision, or maybe they felt it was too outlandish or something. This forced me to take a lead in designing & styling what I wear. Even though my friends and family always laughed at my horrible diagrams, they always copied, borrowed or stole the end product. So one day I had an ‘Aha!’ moment, as Oprah would put it, and thought I could make a living doing what I love so much.

 
Q: How long have you been into fashion?

I'd say fashion has always been part of my life as it is with most women. I've been designing, styling, restyling & redesigning for as long as I could remember. But the business part of it started 3 years ago as DreamSeams. I started out in our boys' quarters but could not really devote as much time as I would've liked to then. My employees were messing up a lot when I went to school and couldn’t be there to ensure proper supervision. Subsequently, after I finished school and NYSC, my awesome clients were already demanding to know when I'd start up again. So I decided to relaunch bigger & hopefully better, rebranding it as TDOK.

Q: What do you think about the Naija fashion industry?

I think the Nigerian fashion industry is doing extremely well. Fantastic, well seasoned designers are springing out everyday.

 
Q: What is your advice to upcoming designers?

It's very challenging, with loads of competition but that shouldn’t deter you in anyway because as long as you give it your best, the sky will be your starting point. Choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life. Confucius.

Regards
The Duchess Of Kukawa

Sabali Fashion Show 2014

Sabali, which means patience in Bambara (in a language in Mali), is a fashion brand founded in 2012 by young Nigerian brothers, Shehu and Munir Yakubu. Since its inception, they have organized 2 fashion shows to give young designers a platform to showcase themselves to a large audience. Sabali makes shoes for men in Turkey and clothes for both men and women in Nigeria. They are popular for their unique shoes and eye catching shirts.

Sabali’s mantra was birthed from the concept of African sophistication. It focuses on designs that reflect the core of African creativity, can stand out globally while of course, remaining very pleasing on the eye. Breaking into the fashion market took a lot of effort from the Sabali team. It was on this journey that they received an epiphany to birth the Sabali fashion show simply to help other fresh brands like theirs. Sabali Fashion Show has become a home to young and upcoming designers where they showcase their creativity and live the experience of participating in a runway event for a giveaway fee. Designers are entitled to make up artists and models as part of their registration benefits. Sabali Fashion Show has attendees of around 500-800 people annually with a marketing reach of about 3,000 people, a number that is largely made up of youths.

The upcoming Sabali Fashion Show in August 2015 plans to capture more talented youthful designers in a more grand setting to accommodate a larger crowd compared to the last two editions.With various forms of entertainment, Sabali Fashion Show is never a dull event and the 2015 editon will be no exception.