Kulture2Couture

Kulture2Couture (K2C) is a free fashion event held annually in London, as part of the Mayor of London’s Black History season. Its aim is to celebrate the work and role of Black British, and especially African and Caribbean designers in the fashion industry. In 2006, the event, according to the show’s ambassador supermodel Alek Wek, “broke new ground” when, for the first time, the V&A played host to the K2C fashion catwalk show and its supporting workshops, debates and master classes. Besides useful advice on how to get into the fashion industry, aspiring black fashion designers were urged to market themselves in a professional business manner in order to optimise external interest in their work – sound advice for British Asian designers too as they probably face similar obstacles to success as an ethnic minority in Britain.

The catwalk show
The main attraction of K2C was undoubtedly the fashion show. The impressive designs of the exhibitors brought glossy, sexy glamour to the medieval V&A hall. Most of the female collections featured elegant evening wear with characteristically feminine copious amounts of soft flowing fabric such as satin and chiffon. Skirts and dresses also featured heavily; be they cute and short, or long and elegant. The clothes had a distinctly top-end, high street fashion look, and yet looked suitable for formal events such as a dinners and weddings. The collections for men, on the other hand, had a more relaxed feel to them; the clothes featured could be worn for everyday use or for just chilling out.

Bezemy Mailan
There were, however, some exceptions: If you like your clothes to draw on a great many cultural influences, then check out Bezemy Mailan, a fashion label that  describes itself as a rich mix of cultures. The label’s designers draw their inspiration from their travels to Russia, Asia, Africa and South America and their exciting multicultural designs took the show out of its solely African/Caribbean cultural context.

Regina Piloya
Another designer whose clothing line made obvious use of cultural influence was that of Regina Piloya, which exhibited large prints of what looked like roasted coffee beans imposed onto bouncy, clean cut A-lined skirts, whilst using traditional Ugandan bark cloth. However, despite having been swept away by the sound of Amy Winehouse’s Rehab as the models shimmied down the catwalk in their rich autumnal colours, it soon became apparent that much of Piloya’s collection was fairly similar in style, and lacked diversity.

Zed-Eye
The star of the show, (at least for me) had to be the work of fashion label Zed-Eye. This collection was infused with a 1950’s and Victorian era inspired theme, apparent through the combination of tight corporate looking pinstripe skirts and loose fitted satin shirts with ruffled shoulders. This collection made use of clustered boho jewellery and frills around the neck and chest area, inducing many ‘oohs’ from onlookers as the models came their way. Like traditionally Asian wear, the clothes accentuated feminine curves and were innovatively slick and polished looking, whilst retaining a silky, lustrous look. The clothes’ sexy feminine elegance seems to me just perfect wear for young and trendy female professionals eager to get noticed.

Sleek
Hair extensions were a recurrent feature used on the models, and were provided by Sleek, a relatively new hair extension and cosmetic make-up company.  Sleek presently offers foundations for dark skinned women of colour, and its hair extensions range is easily wearable for anyone. During the K2C event, Sleek ran free make-up master classes and makeovers promoting their cosmetic range, as well as handing out goody bags. Upon speaking to the Sleek marketing assistant, Kim Vu, I learned that the Sleek cosmetic range aims to accommodate for the British Asian market by 2007. Vu stated “As women of colour have different shades, Sleek is aiming to branch out further and cater for lighter extremes of women. Our product development team are presently looking at the Asian market and trying to meet this demand, - definitely next year for sure”. So watch this space!

Overall it has to be said that the designers and organisers of Kulture2Couture 2006 deserve full praise for such an inspiring and glamorous show. It left me wondering why British Asian fashion has so far not featured outside the Asian community events. The K2C event drew large numbers of the public and educated them about the talent at work in Black fashion design – surely British Asian designers would benefit from such a pat on the back too?

By Mariam Sheikh