Coach may not have intended it, but, from the moment it decided to continue to price its high-quality products at lower-than-industry standards and offer huge discounts to every and anybody, it became the ‘accessible luxury brand’, a tag that it quickly realised was more dangerous than helpful. P…
Fashion
Would You Rock the Balenciaga x Bang & Olufsen Speaker Handbag?
Before you give a definitive answer, consider all the functions you could squeeze out of a handbag fitted with powerful speakers from Bang & Olufsen and wrapped in Italian lambskin leather from Balenciaga. The just-concluded 51st couture fashion show by Balenciaga was a star-packed affair wit…
The Concept Mercedes-Maybach Haute Voiture is Haute Couture at its Auto Finest
You may have heard people say that Mercedes, for all its talk about being a luxury brand, usually creates autos that fall short of this label. These critics may well be eating their words now with the unveiling of the close-to-production Concept Mercedes-Maybach Haute Voiture. Haute couture, meet…
This December, Chanel will be Live in Dakar
Guess who’s coming to Dakar? The House of Chanel! The fashion house will be holding its annual Métiers d’Art fashion show in the capital of Senegal on December 6, 2022. According to Chanel, Métiers d’Art is ‘an ode to craftsmanship and a tribute to the specialist ateliers with which t…
5 African Fashion Designers to get You Red Carpet Ready
It is official: COVID fatalities are at an all-time low and all over the world, the red carpets are out. Here in Africa, celebrities, influencers, industry giants and just about everyone are gliding down the red carpet for events centred around product launches, movie premieres, awards and other …
ASPIRE Ones to Watch, 2022
2021 was such a year of hope. We had just exited the worst of a global pandemic and, for Africans living on the continent, an additional uncertainty heightened by protests and economic instability. We daresay almost everyone approached the new year with some level of positivity, as to do otherwis…
Manolo Blahnik transforms Classic Birkenstock Slides into a Glittering, Chic Affair
If you hear of a new Manolo Blahnik collection or collaboration today, it would be natural to immediately conjure up images of high-heeled velvety mules, strappy stiletto sandals, and, should your mind ever go to flats, ultra-chic, soft leather or velvet mules. Definitely not a Birkenstock design…
Some Interesting Collections from the Milan Fashion Week 2022
At the just concluded Milan Fashion Week, the collection that probably stood out the most and made the most headlines is the Gucci x Adidas collection. This may be because it is quite unusual to have a luxury fashion brand join hands with a largely sportswear brand for a major collection, but it …
Iké Udé: Nollywood Portraits puts African Beauty and Fashion on Display at the Smithsonian
This Black History month, learn more about Africa’s biggest movie industry, Nollywood via Iké Udé: Nollywood Portraits, an exhibition by the Nigerian-born multimedia artist that will be live at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art from February 5 2022 till February 2023. On display wi…
Is Telfar dropping a New Circular Clutch Soon? We hope!
Luxury bags – and in general luxury goods – usually make quite the splash when they launch, but only a few become true classics that retain their value years after, turning into alternative assets that trade quickly on the secondary market. Birkins are a good example, and also the Chanel Flap bag…