GRAAAACE!!!!! This is exactly what my insides were screaming during the ThisDay ARISE African Fashion Collective show during Fashion Week. It all started with a freaky fun video featuring Ms. Jones herself, followed by four separate shows by rising African stars in the fashion world: Xuly.Bet by Lamine Badian Kouyaté, Tiffany Amber by Folake Folarin-Coker, Stoned Cherrie by Nkhensani Nkosi, and Momo by Fati Asibelua. ARISE is a global style and culture mag dedicated to African achievement, music, business and politics.
Malian designer, Lamine Badian Kouyaté for Xuly.Bet, was up first, displaying a grunge/rock edge to his African-influenced designs. Fitted pantsuits, oversized scarves and skintight leather looks were the highlights. Liya Kebede started the show in his velvet pantsuit...
...hot girl Stacey McKenzie weeerked his mini dress...
...and Alec Wek and Tyson Beckford shut it down when they walked the runway together! The crowd went crazy.
Guerilla digicam shot
And just when you thought it was over, Grace muthafluffin Jones walked out and I almost lost it...
...and so did everyone else!
Now that we were all thoroughly amped, Nigeria's Tiffany Amber was ready to show her collection of easy breezy dresses in bright fabrics that seemed to float down the runway. There was an elegance to the collection, which included traditional Ankara fabrics, like the one worn by Chanel Iman.
I especially loved the braided hair, fit for royalty.
This dress was accented by strands of freshwater pearls!
The plunging Ankara ruffled neckline and violet color made this gown one of my favorites.
Next up was Stoned Cherrie's tribute to Miriam Makeba. Exuding color and expert craftsmanship, the highlights were blouson blouses, pencil skirts and feminine dresses. 
This sunset orange ombré dress worn on Alex Wek was a standout.
Finally, Momo's collection displayed The Mosaic of Africa. After such a fun and exciting show, Momo was kind of a downer. Super simple and understatedly uniform, it felt to me like the same pattern with alternating animal print...again and again. Bummer.
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