Nigerian Rapper, Ice Prince, wins “Best African Act” at the 2013 edition of BET Awards (Black Entertainment Television Awards). Ice Prince was on the race with 2Face Idibia (Nigeria), Toya Delazy (South Africa), Donald (South Africa), R2Bees (Ghana), Radio and Weasel (Uganda) and emerged the WINNER of the 2013 Best African Act at the BET Awards that took place last night.
A big congrats to the rapper.
UPDATE
See more photos from the rapper and others at BET Awards
Nigerian musician and Highlife singer, Flavour Nabania has released a new music video titled, “Ada Ada.” The song is all about love, marriage and having children thereafter. This song is a typical Nigerian marriage song and will be a popular one among Nigerians getting married. The video features images of the Igbo traditional marriage rites.
What do you think about the song and its video presentation? Share your views.
ALSO SEE: Flavour N’Abania Keeping it Hot & Juicy.
Known for her thought-provoking and inspirational writing, Adichie was thrust into the limelight by Purple Hibiscus which she published in 2003. She followed it up with another sensational novel, Half of a Yellow Sun in 2006 and The Thing Around Your Neck in 2009. She recently released her last book, Americanah. She lets viewers into her world and talks about how she is pioneering the way for a new generation of Nigerian writers, what inspires her work, and her plans to make an impact in her country.
Born in Enugu in September 1977, the novelist grew up in the university town of Nsukka in south-eastern Nigeria. She studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria (UNN) for a year and a half before she left Nigeria for the United States, where she obtained a degree in communications and political science in 2001.
In 2003, she completed a master’s degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, she received a Master of Arts in African studies from Yale University.
In 2008, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She has also been awarded a 2011 to 2012 fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
ALSO SEE: 55 Ankara African Print Styles For Plus Size Women.
Her story, “That Harmattan Morning” was selected as joint winner of the BBC Short Story Awards in 2003, and she won the O. Henry prize for “The American Embassy”. She also won the David T. Wong International Short Story Prize 2002/2003 (PEN Centre Award), for “Half of a Yellow Sun”.
Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (2005). But “Half of a Yellow Sun” finally won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction.
Senegalese entrepreneur and designer, Adama Amanda Ndiaye is the talented designer behind the brand “Adama Paris.”
Also known as “Adama Paris,” the African designer was born in 1976 in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as the Republic of Zaire) where she spent her first three years as a child before moving to Paris. Because she was the daughter of a diplomat, Adama spent her growing up years in several cities and countries around the world. As a result, she became a true cosmopolitan.
Before becoming a designer, Adama had a banking career in Europe but abandoned it to pursue a career in fashion designing in her native country, Senegal. Today, the fashion designer lives in Paris, France but travels frequently to the French capital and New York, Brazil and Senegal.
ALSO SEE: Meet The Designer: Exclusive Q&A With Kemi Farquharson.
Adama’s designs symbolise the multicultural fashion designer of the new millennium. This is attributed to her growing up in several cities around the world. As such, her designs are inspired by cities and globalism. In an interview with Vogue Italia, the African designer said,
Much of my inspiration comes from the big cities, for I am a true city girl who loves buildings and concrete. I love to travel and each stop in a concrete jungle is an occasion for inspiration. My aim was and still is sharing with all modern women one fashion without borders.
Adama Paris was born from my desire to share my passion for fashion as well as fulfilling my will for displaying diversity.
Her pieces are sold worldwide with three points of sales shop in Paris, two in London and one each in New York, Rio de Janeiro and Dakar.
At the time Adama went back to Senegal to start her fashion-designing journey, there was little or no acceptance for African fashion in the mainstream. To promote global visibility and acceptance for African fashion, she created the Dakar Fashion Week exhibition 11 years ago. “I wanted to share modern African fashion with the rest of the world and highlight the savoir-faire of my African peers,” she told Vogue Italia.
Last year, about thirty designers from nine African and Asian countries showcased their collections at Dakar Fashion Week. It also had audience members coming from around the world. She is also the organiser of Black Fashion Week . A fashion event that has been organised in cities such as Prague, Czech Republic, Bahia, Brazil, Paris, France and Montreal, Canada.
ALSO SEE: Gele Trendy Head Scarves: Making An Exotic African Royal Statement.
See another photo of Adama and some of her collections below
As most of you might have already known. Nigerian musician and producer, OJB Jezreel is sick and he needs the sum of $100,000 (₦16,000,000.00) to perform a liver transplant. He has already found a donor and all he needs at the moment is the funds to carry out the operation. In this interview with Hip TV, the Nigerian music producer and media entrepreneur speaks about his health and the challenges he has been facing.
ALSO SEE: Video: Nigerian Gay Rights Activist Bisi Alimi Speaks To CNN’s Amanpour.
On 24 August 2013, My Black Woman (MBW) will be organising a free Media and Business Networking conference at the University College London (UCL).
The event, created by Faustina Anyanwu, is meant to help African women and other women of colour in business and entertainment to take their place in the global branding.
Understanding the importance of approaching the media appropriately as a medium to get businesses into the global scene, and having seen that African enterprises at this moment have not realized this important strategy in adding value to their worth, Faustina created MBW PR and creative agency to support them.
Speaking of the need for African women to embrace the media as a powerful tool in putting themselves forward, Faustina says, “there are businesses and there are brands, these are two different things by mile. There is not going to be total liberation until we embrace reading and the media as an essential tool”.
The event has been designed to be fun, educational, interactive and relaxed to enable all who attend to have something to take home from it. “We want to see more and more Black owned businesses taking coming up especially here in the UK, I know we can do it says Engr. VCA the publisher of C.Hub magazine and one of the key speakers at the conference”
Also giving the keynote lecture is one of London’s most powerful business consultants – Morton Patterson of mortonpatterson.com.
Other people who will be speaking at the event include, Tola Onigbanjo, the co-founder of Women for Africa, Beverly Andrews, an established name in the Jewish community and a PR guru, Nena Ubani of Duchess TV and Obi Emelonye, the director of Last Flight to Abuja.
Tropics Magazine’s editor, Valerie has been confirmed as part of the media houses that will be gracing the occasion.
There will of be refreshment for all attendants. Those with VIP tickets will be treated to free copies of latest C.Hub Magazine.
Dr Page Ben of University College London, and Faustina Anyanwu, who will also be speaking – will host the conference. It is also expected that MBW will unveil her plans for the Black woman and Black businessmen and women come 24th August 2013.
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” ]For more information and or interviews please contact Faustina Anyanwu at: www.fauntee.com/blog myblackwoman@fauntee.com @fauntee 07901137951.[/box]
See poster below for more details on the event.
With less than three months left for the Loving Your Curves event to take place in London, the organisers are collaborating with Hughes Models to organize a runway casting event – and are calling on plus size models between sizes 14 and 26 to register their participation.
Kemi Farquharson confirmed the partnership between Loving Your Curves and Hughes Models with a very big smile. “We are proud to confirm our partnership with Hughes Models,” she said.
Loving Your Curves is the first event to provide a platform for plus size bridal designers in the UK. The runway casting will take place on Sunday 28 July 2013. See poster below for further details on the runway casting event.
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As part of its upcoming plus size event, Loving Your Curves is offering graduate fashion students and young designers an opportunity to showcase their designs for free.
Designers that want showcase will need to submit 1 completed design in a UK size 14 – within the Fashion or Bridal category.
From each category, 6 designers will be chosen to showcase within one collaborative collection – “Young Designer to Watch.” They will also be featured within Loving Your Curves Media Partners Publications.
Loving Your Curves is an exciting and unique platform that showcases Plus Size Fashion alongside Beauty, Lifestyle and Bridal, to promote Size Acceptance hand in hand with Healthy Curves.
Not only will they be showcasing established and renown designers like Carolyn de la Drapiere, Dea London, Lillian Mayro, Morts & More and Kemi Boutique (Plus Size Bridal & Evening Couture Collection), they are also very excited and keen to discover new talents and give opportunities to those that would not normally be able to afford to participate in an international runway show.
Loving Your Curves has already attracted press, buyers and fashionistas from around the world who want to see the new Plus Size trends that are being developed by UK designers.
For further information please email pr@lovingyourcurves.co.uk
To all emerging designers, this is the last week for you to win a place at the 2013 edition of Africa Fashion Week London through the EN Campaigns competition.
The EN Campaign competition is a collaboration between the brand and Africa Fashion Week London. It is an exclusive competition in the run-up to Europe’s largest fashion event dedicated to African and African-inspired fashion at Old Truman Brewery, London on August 1-3, 2013
At the end of the campaign, six designers will be selected by Africa Fashion Week London and Elevation Networks Campaigns to showcase their clothes on the catwalk of this year’s event as finalists for the competition. The overall winner will have the opportunity to fly to Nigeria for the first ever Africa Fashion Week Nigeria later this year.
To enter the competition please visit here. The competition will be closed in the first week of July.
SEE ALSO: 45 Ways African Women Are Rocking Ankara Palazzo Trousers With Tops.
“We are delighted to have EN Campaigns on board to help us with our goal to support emerging designers who need funds to take their business to the next level,” said CEO and founder of Africa Fashion Week London, Ronke Ademiluyi.
“This partnership also shows our work in this arena is being recognized by other organisations who are just as interested as we are in supporting emerging talent,” she added.
EN Campaigns also provide access to funding for anyone under 30 years old with a creative business idea and are interested in designers, photographers, videographers, event planners, agencies, and anyone else that needs access to finance to take their business to the next level. To apply simply visit EN Campaigns
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I truly love this year’s wedding theme, Paste colours. A pastel colour is such a wonderful romantic ambience for any bride’s special day. With such a delicate palette you can work pastel colours into your wedding theme from fairy-tale dreams to dreamy romance or even glamour … it’s all in the details.
As a bridal designer, I especially love colour and pastels in a wedding dress for a fuller figured bride, as it is the ideal way to draw the eyes to the areas on the dress and your body that you love the most. It can be extremely flattering to every shape. The beauty of pastels is that from sky blues to soft pinks, to gentle greens or to even peaches – you have endless romantic inspiration to bring into your dress design.
As a plus size bridal designer, here are my top 3 tips to consider when going a pastel colour:
Ornate detailing
Detailing is a great way to use a sublet colour palette, especially if you have your heart set on a white dress. By adding pastel lace, floral or adornment finishing this is a great way to add a glamorous or romantic twist to a traditional dress and for a fuller figure, it can be designed to allow subtle colour blocking.
SEE ALSO: 50 Fabulous Ankara Styles For Teenagers.
Inspiration
The sky is your limit, pastels allow for such a wide source of inspiration, from romantic cities like Paris to nature or even fairy tales. This is the perfect theme to have the wedding dress of your dreams!
Vintage
If you have found yourself drawn to vintage dresses but felt it may not be keeping with your style, pastel colours are a great way to create a vintage style dress without compromising on your personal style.
SEE ALSO: Ankara Fashion Feast: Coordinated Mother-Daughter Look.
These are some design inspiration for the perfect spring and summer wedding pastel colour theme. The article was written by Kemi Farquharson who is the founder of Kemiboutique, a brand that specialises in designing apparels for the plus size woman. She is also the founder of Loving Your Curves, the first exhibition and fashion show to provide a platform for plus size designers in the UK.
Visit Kemi Boutique website
Register to attend the Loving Your Curves event
Follow @Kemiboutique and @LYCurves on Twitter
