Goodbye to Fashioning February

Well that was the fashion month that was and boy was it one hell of a month. I had a really fabulous time doing Fashioning February, I had the pleasure of featuring Sasha Wilkes Liberty London Girl as Blogger of the Month and Jennine Jacobs from The Coveted about the Evolving Influence IFB Conference. This season I had the pleasure of seeing more shows than I have ever done before and despite my weary arms and feet, it was well worth it. I also bumped into a few blogger mates such as Nneoma from TwentyTenEightyFour, Muireann from Bangs and a Bun, Archna from Punchbowl Blog, Navaz from Disney Roller Girl, Keysha from The Cocoa Diaries and Marian Kihogo and met some lovely new ones such as Christine from Very Nice Threads, Omoyemi from Style House Files and Hannah from Bow Dream Nation.

Following suit from a few fashion bloggers, here are my numbers for London Fashion Week.

Shows attended: 15
Glasses of champagne: 4
Cups of tea in the BFC Press Lounge: 5
Blackberry photos taken: 74 (this surprises me - I had no idea I took that many)
Camera photos taken: 101
Celebrities spotted: 8
Interviews taken: 2
Visits to MAC lounge: 1
Bloggers met and greeted: 12

Well that's all folks, I hope you enjoyed Fashioning February and I will see you same time next year.

You can check out all the posts from the Fashioning February series here.

Fashioning February: Kiki Kamanu

Interview with Kiki Kamanu at Fashion Mavericks.
I was gutted to miss Kiki Kamanu's catwalk show at Fashion Mavericks which consisted of bling jacket dresses robes, high waisted dresses and glitzy shirts all made in bright and vivid colours. It went down a storm and was one of the strongest collections of the event especially the goody bags which were handbags and slouch bags made out of Ankara material. Kiki describes her collection as unconventional and eclectic and her designs have been featured on various runways in Africa and featured in international magazines and TV. What makes her collection so special is the blend of different styles, textures and fabrics from around the world which she meshes so seamlessly together. Think of Italian leathers mixed with Thai and Indian silks with elements of Dutch wax prints and embroidery by West African artisans. Kiki who has lived in Nigeria, USA and France gave up her job as a corporate event planner to set up her label when she found that her itch to stitch  would not go away. I was fortunate enough to go backstage and take a peek at Kiki's amazing collection and I also got to interview her about her collection and inspirations.

Check out the Armcandy Bag below made out of Ankara material. Look how cool they.

Check out Kiki's website.

Fashioning February: Goody Bags Galore

No decent fashionista leaves a fashion show without a goody bag. These are mainly placed in the front row (sometimes second and third depending on how well off the designer is) for the creme a la creme such as top editors, buyers, celebs and certain bloggers. The idea of the goody bag or swag as they are now being referred to, is so you buy into the brand and give it a favourable review. They come in the form of fancy designed cardboard bags or recycled cloth ones and they can contain anything from perfume, tshirts, gift cards, make up to bottles of water. The quality of the bag really depends on how rich or generous the designer is feeling at the time or whether they have been able to find a company to sponsor them. Some bags can often be more style than substance with nothing more than a bottle of water and a mere magazine inside. However due to the recession it is no surprise that goody bags lack the lustre that they used to have in more buoyant times. Some designers do try their best though; during my adventures at London Fashion Week I managed to collect several goody bags and this is what was in them.

The Look Show
Bottle of Water
Look magazine
H&M magazine
H&M leopard clutch
New Look chiffon scarf
LMS Spotlights active cell regeneration
Marks and Spencer sunglasses
Monsoon jewellery
Rimini eyelashes
Label M sea salt spray
Natio rose water camomile skin toner
Kleenex tissues
Urban Decay eye pencil
Nails Inc nail polish
Next just pink lip balm
John Galliano perfume sample
Natio facial cleanser
L'Occitane hand cream
Natio moisturiser

MAC
Press releases and look books
Notepad
Lipcreme
Skin Base
Eye Creme

Jazzkatz
Vauxhall Fashion Scout notepad
Bottle of Vitamin Water
Label M fizz control serum
Label M mesh styling

Jaeger London
Bazaar magazine
Bottle of water
Bar of chocolate
Label M split end sealer compact

Paul Smith
Optimistic perfume
Paul Smith notepad

Bunmi Koko
Cupcake by Louise
2 cans of Red Bull
2 packs of Ferrero Rocher chocolates
2 packs of Borders cookies
2 packs of No7 colour eye palette
Sanctuary shower gel
Cargo concealer and foundation
Pen
Cargo mascara

All in all not bad at all and much appreciated.

Check out this hilarious video about goody bags at New Zealand Fashion Week.

Fashioning February: Enya Patricia

Enya Patricia from ondolady on Vimeo.
Every good lady needs a clutch for those occasions when you are out on the town. Right now I am enjoying a love renaissance with fur - ok faux fur, I mean I don't want a bucket of blood thrown over me like poor Samantha did in Sex and the City: The Movie. At London Fashion Week I kept seeing fur everywhere as jackets, gillets and satchels and they looked really cool in a luxurious way. So when I came across a faux fur clutch at Enya Patricia's stall during the exhibition of Fashion Mavericks I was taken by it. Enya Patricia is a brand owned by Enya Patricia Mooney who started designing in her spare time while she was studying Child Psychology. She also showed her lovely collection at Fashion Mavericks which was feminine with a dash of sexy, we saw elegant dresses draped with leather or fur accents. I grabbed Enya for an interview so she could tell me more about her classy collection.

You can check out Enya Patricia's website.