A Look At The Fabulous Fatima's Wardrobe; She Is One of Lusaka's Fashion Icon

I met Fatima about three years ago. She was my "shoes client". I had just returned from the United Kingdom with lots of fabulous, classy shoes to re-sell. I remember at that time, I was selling the shoes at $100 each and a friend of mine introduced me to Fatima who got about five pairs at once! I was a happy seller ;-) . Since then, I have been her secret follower of her fashion.

She has a great sense of fashion and her collection is so unique. She doesn't put a price on looking good, that's what I like about her. Even her house represent her sense of style, she is a real classy lady. Hollywood must be missing a fashion icon ;-) .

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT THIS BEAUTY'S CLOSET.

Make a fashion statement with a Headwrap this weekend.

Headwraps have been around for decades. And they have been commonly worn by African women. Headwraps also called head ties, have a very significant history in the African American community ( I will write about it in another article).

On the African continent, they have been most common in Southern and Western parts over the past years. Historically, headwraps, head ties or turban have different meanings and cultural statements in different countries. For example, in my country (Zambia) long ago, you would only see headwraps been worn by elderly women and young women would only wear them at the funerals. I guess its been the same in many African countries. In Zambia we call them "chitambala" in Nyanja (the most common name, we have 72 languages and they are called differently in other languages). In Malawi and Ghana the headwrap is called "duku", in Zimbabwe the headwrap is called "dhuku", in Botswana the headwrap is called "tukwi" and the Nigerians call it "gele".

Fashion revolves with time and the headwraps are no longer symbolises culture or spiritual or slavery or anything like that. It is the in-thing now! It is what is trending in the fashion industry at the moment. And you don't only see the African ladies wrapping it up, we have the white ladies rocking the head wraps too. That's the beauty of fashion, it has no race and it breaks all the boundaries.

Myself

I have added a few pictures as an inspiration for you. In case you are thinking of trying it. There are a lot of tutorials on youtube on to tie headwraps or turbans. I like headwraps myself and sometimes I use just a small piece and use it as a headband.

And remember, its all about colour ;-) .

Brandy, rocking it in a headwrap

Myself wearing my favourite black headband.

Tyra Banks wearing a headwrap. Looking good

My model friend, Kate. Looking real African.

"WRAP-IT-UP THIS WEEKEND!"

Meet Faith M Kabende, One of Africa's Top Fashion Designers.

In the last two decades, African has taken up center stage in the fashion industry and Zambia hasn't been left behind. We have Amaka Osakwe, of Maki Oh, the Nigerian fashion designer who recently dressed Michelle Obama. We have the likes of  Adama Paris from Senegal, Thula Sindi from South Africa, Taibo Bacar from Mozambique, Pooja Jeshang from Tanzania just to mention but a few. I like the way Fashion is changing the face of Africa. We now have Hollywood embracing African Fashion which is very exciting. I would simply say..,well DONE African Designers!!

Lets meet Faith M Kabende of Fay Designs, Zambia's own Pride and Joy!

I recently met up with Faith and I had a chat with her. What an amazing woman! Very collective, down to earth, humble..,my kind of woman! I honestly didn't expect she was gonna agree to meet with me deal to her busy life....and honestly, her fame. But I was amazed when she said yes and created sometime to have a chat with me. She is truly an amazing, my true African Super Woman. I wanted to know how her story, we sat down and she started telling me her story..,she calls it "My Super Story."

"My super Story," Faith..

Faith Mulenga Kabende, like many stories of designers we have heard before, has never studied fashion and design in her life! She discovered her passion for fashion when she was about 12 years old she tells me. By the time she was 15 years, she had already started making her own clothes that she would were at school on civilian day, she recalls with a laughter. She goes on to say, "I remember how my friends used to look forward to see what kind of an outfit I was going to pull off on civilian day at school. I would normally wear maybe a tie and a waistcoat, just something crazy. And back then, it wasn't something very common to wear clothes like that. With the help of my mother, I would sketch and she would hand-sew the clothes for me." She recalls with a warm smile on her face.

The Birth Of Fay Designs

The name Fay was derived from her name "Faith". Before going into fashion and designing full time, Faith used to work for Zambia Telecommunication (Zamtel). She used to design part time while working but she got so over whelmed with her clients mostly friends and friends of friends who liked her outfits. At the age of 27, she decided to quite her job and went into fashion full time. People thought it was a crazy idea to stop work and follow her passion. She says, it was the best thing to do and she has no regrates.

She showcased her work at the Zambian Fashion week for the first time about seven years ago. But her international recognition came about when she was invited to showcase her collection in South Africa at the launch of a Modeling Agency. Since then, she has showcased her designs in Malaysia when she went to attend a training in Entrepreneurship.

TOP TEN; NOLLYWOOD's SEXIEST ACTRESSES OF ALL TIME!

As we round up 2014, I would like to share with you the most sexiest and most beautiful Nigerian actresses of all time. This list is compiled by blogger (African Super Woman).
Nollywood has had extremely beautiful actresses over the years and this has made it a bit difficulty for me to actually come up with the top ten. But with the help google search, I have managed to come up with my top ten list of Nollywood's most beautiful ladies of all time.

The list is not arranged in a systematic way as of who is the most beautiful or the sexiest. To me, they are all beautiful and sexy!

NUMBER ONE; Omotola Jalade Ekeinde

Omotola 

NUMBER TWO; Genevieve Nnaji

Genevieve

NUMBER THREE; Rita Dominic

Rita

NUMBER FOUR; Stephanie Okereke

Stephanie

NUMBER FIVE; Ini Edo

Ini

NUMBER SIX; Monalisa Chinda

Monalisa

NUMBER SEVEN; Oge Okoye

Oge

NUMBER EIGHT; Chioma Akpotha

Chioma

NUMBER NINE; Tonto Dikeh

Tonto

NUMBER TEN; Chike Ike

Chike 

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, The perfect combination of Beauty, Talent And Brains

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde ( Omosexy as her fans call her, the nick name given to her by her pilot husband Captain Mathew Ekeinde). To me she is what you would call the perfect  "African Super Woman". She is absolutely gorgeous, she has a killer body, she is highly fashionable, she is very talented and above all, she is intelligent. In early 2000, Zambia became exposed to the Nigerian movies (famously now known as Nollywood movies). I was only a teenage then and the likes of Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Rita Dominic and Genevieve Nnaji were my favourite Nollywood actresses and i watched almost all the movies that featured them. I remember Blood Sisters where she acted with the also beautiful Genevieve Nnaji. Games Women Play, Rescue, Lost Kingdom to mention but a few. Omotola has actually appeared in more than 300 Nollywood movies since she started acting in 1995. She is also a singer and an ex-model.

THE BEST OF AFRICAN FASHION 2014!

The year is coming to an end and well everybody is trying to reflect on what went on during the course of 2014. We take out our diaries and check if we have actually achieved all the things we said we are going to achieve at the beginning of the year. That's how I do it in my personal life. But here on African Super Woman, am going to do something different, I am going to look at the best of African fashion or African trends for 2014, the list is self compiled, so don't judge ;-) . Down below, i have a few trends that i kind of did it for me! I will start with myself. (and like i said, DON'T judge).

I designed this skirt myself (and that's me posing as a model). Its really simple, just a skirt, its a bit like a marmaid bit its longer at the back then a bit shorter at the front, it doesn't look like that in the pictures though. and I just made a small headband to kind of make a ribbon.

More of me in my African Print

Amaka Osakwe, The Nigerian Fashion Designer

Amaka Osakwe

Today, I am looking at female fashion designers on the African continent. We have lots of great designers emerging from Africa and making headlines in the world of fashion internationally. And i want to look at this young and talented designer from Nigeria...,she is so talented that the first lady of the United States of America Michelle Obama had to wear a piece of her designs. Her name is Amaka Osakwe. Her label is called Maki Oh and this label is really breaking grounds in the fashion industry. Back in 2013, Michelle Obama wore a shirt designed by Amaka when she was on African tour.

Amaka Osakwe was born in 1987. She studied Art at Bournemouth University where she received a BA in fashion studies. She launched her label in 2010 but it was back in 2012 when her label was discovered by the U.S fashion scene when she presented her designs at the New York Fashion week. 

Michelle Obama wearing a Maki Oh blouse by Amaka Osakwe 

She has dressed Hollywood celebrities such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Kerry Washington, Michelle Obama and Solange Knowles. Her band signature is the combination of Western silhouettes and the native materials but mostly its the material that is hand dyed using the traditional textile Arte process Adire.

SOLANGE KNOWELS, The Queen Of African Style in Hollywood

Solange Knowles, a mother, a songwriter, a singer, a model and a fashionista (my words). A lot of us know her simply of being the young sister of the queen herself  "Beyonce Knowles". but i personally follow her fashion trends and she never disappoint us with that. She has appeared in a number of well known magazines like VOGUE, ELLE, FADER to mention but a few.

My interest is her Afro style.., from her hair, make-up to her cloths, this 28years old super star has it all going. I mostly like her hair...,the big Afro hair..,you know..,like the Diana Ross hair. Its really cool and i have actually done it myself, it really looks sexy.

Anyway, lets have a look at her style. I consider her the queen of Afro style in Hollywood. There are a lot more celebrities in Hollywood that are embracing the Afro look in Hollywood, but i would say Solange Knowles rocks it better. Go girl, we love your STYLE!

MY BEST AFRICAN TRENDS.

MY TOP THREE BEST AFRICAN OUTFITS

MY TOP FOUR BEST AFRICAN HANDBAGS

MY TO FIVE AFRICAN PRINT SHOES

MY TO BEST HAIR DOS!

AFRICAN PRINT IN HOLLYWOOD

I must admit, African print always makes a statement. Its very unique and very different from other prints. African Print is all about colour and more colour. And today, Hollywood is embracing it big time. And i like the way these ladies are rocking it.

Beyonce, Rihanna, Solange, Gwen Stephan and all the A-List stars in Hollywood who know fashion are embracing African prints.