KENNETH LAUNCHES FALL/WINTER COLLECTION AT PARIS FASHION WEEK

Last Monday, Kenneth Ize launched his Fall/Winter collection at Palais De Tokyo, Saut Du Loup at the Paris Fashion Week. ARISE sponsored Kenneth Ize’s launch and we were on ground to support one of our own. The venue was filled to the brim as everyone waited anxiously for the show to begin.

The show began with languid music as the models strutted in. Kenneth did not veer far from his trademark aso-oke fabric but this time, he pushed the envelope by making the fabric in various textures, one of which, was the embossed aso-oke, which he made in a jacket, pants and pantsuit. Another trademark of Kenneth is his androgynous look which reflected in this collection as they were mostly unisex. He added some vibrancy with dashes of bright colours like pinks, lime greens and yellows infused with darker shades like bottle greens, browns and dark purples. He also played with designed prints aside from the horizontal lines of most of his fabrics. Some accessories were mostly leather, mixed with asooke print. They all had tassels and some with leather interwoven handles. Some of these tassels were also attached to belts, pants and shorts. There was an added twist with some of the accessories as the little tote bags carried by the female models were worn as necklaces by some of the male models. There were some metallic earrings and belts as well, all intricately designed. Kenneth pushed the envelope even further by introducing other fabrics like knitwear into his collection and he had an amazing array of them. He also had checkered fabrics making dresses and long skirts with numerous thigh-high slits. The mix of colours in his collection were well coordinated with bright pipings infused into dark coloured garments. Kenneth maintained his streetwear aesthetic with clean lines making the finished product effortlessly chic. The collection also had some earth tones. They were some hooded slouch tops, one of them with his name and a message saying, ‘Kenneth Ize Loves You’.

The highlight of the evening was when the legendary Queen of Catwalk, Naomi Campbell, made her appearance in an aso-oke trench coat and sauntered onto the stage walking majestically. Her look was breathtaking and needless to say, she captivated the audience which resulted in a huge round of applause from them after her exit. The models then walked in, in a file, to make their appearance of the collection. After their exit, Kenneth ran to the center of the stage brimming from ear to ear, he took a bow, waved at the audience and ran back out.

Kenneth is the first Nigerian to show his collection at Paris Fashion Week, which is by no means a small feat. It truly was a memorable evening to get ‘one of our own’ showcase on a platform as huge as this. What was more poignant was the caliber of models used. Most of them being big players in their own right and making waves in the international modeling industry. From Mayowa Nicholas who has modeled for many big brands including the Victoria Secrets show (the biggest there is in the fashion space), to Iman Hamaam the Dutch model who has being on the cover of American Vogue three times, and also Alton, (Karl Lagerfield’s golden boy) and Ghanaian-British model, Adwoa Aboah who was on the covers of Vogue for the second consecutive time. They were so many other faces, some from the ‘ARISE Family’ which made the shared moments backstage even more special!