The Intervention by T-Church

Once a man touched me.
He didn't love me,but he touched me.
He didn't know me, but he touched me.
HE
TOUCHED
ME.

I'm not the only woman who felt this
DISRESPECT
THIS HATE
THIS FEAR
THIS EMBARRASSMENT.

I'd never wish this on an ememy or a friend.

I JUST WANT A RELEASE FROM
THE
BONDAGE!

THE
INSECURITES
that came along with these
UNWANTED FINGERTIPS.

PERVERTED EYES.

TONGUE WOVEN WITH LIES.

I've walked through life replacing my birth name with "VICTIM."

MY INNOCENCE RECIEVED SO MANY STICHES.

MY SELF ESTEEM PLUMETED SO LOW IT WAS TOPPED WITH CEMENT;

AND

I'M A GROWN WOMAN AND THESE ARE THE COLDEST TEARS I'VE EVER CRIED.

AND

I ASKED THE LORD, "WHY WAS I PLACED IN THIS SITUATION?"

He responded and said,

"Your surroundings weren't in tune with me to receive my discretion

and

to see the threat

and

to receive the message of despair to come.

But, now that it is done,

allow my robe to cover all man-made wounds that thou hast received.

I'll mend eyes and heart if only you'll "believe."

Breaking the shackles into tiny coins like pieces so you can make the "change."

Empowering you to do away with bitterness and pride so you can live a new life.

Free from the cuts of the world.

If your search is for comfort, you can lay in me.

Giving you peace and serenity.

Your journey will be abundantly blessed.

Just trust in me.

You were once torn and abused

BUT

NOW, YOU ARE HEALED."

~T.Church

Toya Thomas is a regular Ladybrille contributor covering fashion, urban life and giving us uplifting and inspiring poetry. Toya performs her poetry on many stages around the country and her stage name is T-Church.

Photo credit: Steve Hudson Photography

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Alltel Words of Wisdom: How Will You Build Upon A New Spirit of Change?

In celebration of Black History Month and in support of the communities Alltel Wireless serves, Alltel along with Dr. Maya Angelou are joining hands to ask how will you build on a new spirit of change? If you answer the question and are seeking to attend a historically black college, you could potentially win $10,000 scholarship monies!

To get you going, I have decided to share with you how I intend to build on a new spirit of change. Please read and share with your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers etc. so they can apply to win!

For me, there remains a keen interest in combining my love for law with fashion to reach people in ways never done before. Very specifically, it means continuing the Ladybrille mantra of bringing African fashions directly to Western consumers. Further, it means engaging this year, more so than ever before, government agencies, trade organizations, professional organizations and non-profits whose interests are aligned with Ladybrille's to really tune into the debilitating state of Africa's textile and clothing industries; and its impact on Africa's women, children and overall GDP.

I will write more extensively from a legal and policy standpoint and freelance my work to publications that target the above groups, as I create awareness and suggest solutions. I will attend and speak, as often as I can, about the state of Africa's clothing and textile industries. My hope is when all is said and done, I would have contributed in my own small way to helping revive and restore jobs to many women and men in Africa. Sounds like a tall order doesn't it? Well, I'll take it one day at a time and luckily for me, I now have you to join me in these efforts with your continued support of Ladybrille.

What about you? What are you doing to build on a new spirit of change? Share here and also head on to the campaign site to tell how! Visit site by clicking image

Cheers,

Uduak Oduok
Editor-in-Chief

Disclaimer: Ladybrille Media is promoting contest in conjunction with our media parner , Glam.com.

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New York Fashion Week: Xuly Bet, Stoned Cherrie, Momo and Tiffany Amber to Show at African Fashion Collective 2009

We've got the scoop for you on those who will be involved at the upcoming New York Fashion Week, Fall 2009 ThisDay/Arise Magazine African Fashion Collective Show. The event will feature the following African fashion designers: Xuly Bet by Parisian/Mali's Lamine Badian Kouyaté, Tiffany Amber by Nigeria's Folake Coker, Momo by Nigeria's Fati Asibelua and Stoned Cherie by South Africa's Nkhesani Nkosi. Fashion production will be handled by South Africa's Jan Malan of Umzingeli Productions. Jan has had experience with producing shows across the continent. He also produced the Afridesia show in New York for Anglo Gold during New York Fashion week in 2002 and is co-owner of Supermodel Oluchi's O-Models Africa. Music will be by the reputable African born DJ Dino Moran.

Xuly Bet: Lamine Badian Kouyaté better known as Xuly Bet remains one of the most exciting designers from Africa. The fifth child out of six boys, Xuly was born in Bamako, Mali to a minister father. In his teens, he was convinced he wanted to be part of the creative process and would later enroll in school in Dakar, Senegal for a Fine Arts and Architecture degree. Dakar, however, could neither contain nor guide the burning fire in him for fashion that was African, traditional yet Urban and cosmopolitan. He needed something more, something like Paris!

Xuly subsequently left the motherland to embrace his thirst for urban-punk-pop Afro fusion fashion. He was and remains inspired by the works of great designers like YSL, Jean Paul Gaultier and even the punkish touch of Dame Vivienne Westwood. When Xuly arrived on the Paris fashion scene, he style was revolutionary. By 1989, he set up his own shop and over time has now become synonymous with recycled fashions, bright colors, cutting edge graphics and form fitting dresses. For Xuly, it is rare that you will see his deisgns "with fibers, beads or rafia." He insist that Africa is a melting pot with so many influences and a point of view that is not necessarily always embellished with African beads or rafia. In his designs you will find loads of synthetic materials,lace, fake fur and T-shirts with provocative slogans.

Tiffany Amber: Walk into Folake Coker's design studio in Lagos, Nigeria and you are most likely to catch her claded in one of her simple, long, fluid elegant designs and for a fact see tons of fashion magazines from Vogue to Bazaar strewn all over her coffee table. Big deal? Not necessarily except that for Coker, her desire was to be an attorney zealously advocating for her clients. In fact, she obtained a degree in law but changed direction to pursue her passion for fashion.

When Coker returned to Nigeria she, in 1997,took her passion by the reins and ran with it by setting up shop under her label Tiffany Amber. Today, the Tiffany Amber brand remains one of the most coveted lifestyle brands [clothes, shoes and accessories] in the country. So much so that Coker has four retail high end boutiques in Nigeria, including one located at the rather expensive Palms Shopping Mall in the Lekki Peninsula, Lagos. In 2008, Coker launched a higher end couture label Folake Folarin Couture while simultaneously celebrating ten years in the fashion business. She has always wanted to show in New York, now she gets to.

L-R: Miss World Agbani Darego, Folake Coker and Nike Osinowo

Stoned Cherie: It takes guts and a truckload of confidence to be different and super comfortable with it. Nkhensani has both. A designer, television personality, stylist and actress, Nkhensani understands style from various angles. Her design sense is sort of like Bill Blass, Donna Karan and Stephen Burrows rolled into one. She cuts clothes in ways that say she "gets it" when it comes to a woman's body. She has a great eye for design and is never afraid to use colors and more colors especially in her determination to keep things very urban African. Nkhensani continues to expand her brand Stoned cherie and is a very accomplished young designer having won numerous style awards for her work. We have named her as our style star in the past and we predict that even though all the designers that will show in New York are quite strong in their own right, Nkhensani's designs have such a unique and fresh point of view it won't be suprising to see American buyers purchase in droves and fashion press create so much buzz about her work.

Momo: Abuja the current capital of Nigeria is not necessarily synonymous with fashion. Indeed when we speak of Abuja, "politics" comes to mind. However, for Fati Asibuela, whose company is headquartered in Abuja, it is all about fashion. A fierce business woman with accolades to match, Fati is a graduate of Richmond American International University in the United Kingdom. She also has a Masters in International Communication and Development at the City University London. Her fashion interest compelled her to pursue and obatin a diploma in Fashion Marketing and a Masters in Fashion Styling from the Instituto Marangoni Milan, Italy. She is known for her exquisite, elegant designs and was one of the deisgners who showed at This Day Africa Rising Music Festival held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC late last year. Her brand Momo is alleged to be quite successful with an annual turnover of over $20 million USD and about two hundred employees working for her.

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Audi Joburg Fashion Week, Winter 2009-House of Heni

And you thought the plaid days were over after Fall 2008? Not so, at least according to House of Heni. For Winter 2009, House of Heni kept it fresh and funky with a burst of tomato juicy red dresses and bottoms contrasted with plaid jackets, plaid skirts and long cute plaid bow ties. Accessories were a big part of the collection as argyle knee high socks pulled a lot of the looks together. If you are more like the Avril Lavigne kind of woman [18-25] then this collection would be adorable on you!

Photos: AFI/Simon Deiner

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Audi Joburg Fashion Week, Winter 2009-House of Machere

Pairing red carpet/business worthy designs with African inspired head ties can be quite tricky. A balance has to be struck where classy, sexy elegance seamlessly integrates with African culture in a way that says,'my look is uniquely African yet cosmopolitan.' The House of Machere 2009 Winter collections struck that balance on the runway.

House of Machere played with rich fabric colors like yellow and greens to create colorful African styled head-ties fitting for work, red carpet or church services. The head-ties were matched with elegant simple khaki, silk and cotton dresses, making the collection spectacular and memorable.

Photos: AFI/Simon Deiner

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Audi-Joburg Fashion Week, Winter 2009-Gavin Rajah

Innovation remains one of the hallmarks of a great designer. Gavin Rajah has such innovativeness. Each season it is clear Rajah challenges himself and pushes the creative envelope to produce must have designs fitting for every Ladybrille woman’s wardrobe.

For Winter 2009, for Rajah, it was all about, ‘African Pride.’ Inspired by Victorian novelist Sir H Rider Haggard, Rajah takes traditional cultural dresses and infuses a healthy dose of modernity to it, a collection he calls ‘Eau Sauvage.’

While silhouettes are kept very simple, traditional culture is demonstrated with bold colors that include yellow, orange, green and gold. His use of silk chiffons and taffetas creates a seamless intersection of comfort and fluidity. Special attention to details is seen with his hand painted animal prints complemented with embellished cowrie shells and swarovski.

Photos: AFI/Simon Deiner

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Audi-Joburg Fashion Week, Winter 2009-Nigerian Fashion Show

While prior Audi-Joburg Fashion Weeks have primarily featured South African designers, this year's opened it to other African countries. One country which took advantage to showcase their works, in front of national and international buyers and press,was Nigeria.

Four Nigerian designers which included Bayo Adegbe of Modela brought a strong 'wow!' factor to Audi Joburg Fashion Week, Winter 2009. The designers presented designs with fierceness only fititng for a Ladybrille woman. Colors on the runway included energetic yellows, golds, browns and purples. Fabric choices ranged from silks to ankara cottons. There were also stunning form fitting sequined dresses. Fabrics were cut into flattering shapes that included voluminous skirts, cascading ruffled skirts and halter dresses. The ever present friend of the fashion-forward in Nigeria, wide belts, were also used to create an overall effect of sexy cinched waists.

~Photos: AFI/Simon Deiner

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Audi Joburg Fashion Week, Winter 2009-Fabiani

Audi Joburg Fashion Week, Winter 2009 did something different this year. They moved their fashion week schedule up to permit designers to get their designs in retail stores and fashion magazines in a timely fashion. It appears designers were ready and able to meet the challenge. One such design label that met and executed superb work on the runway this season is Fabiani. Fabiani is a famous menswear retailer in Southern Africa and the design label showed why they are famous.

With great fitted shapes, and use of luxurious fabrics like premium denim, velvet, cashmere, suede and leather, they impressed with some very smart designs fitting for the Ladybrille man.

~Photos: AFI/Simon Deiner

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