059: 25 Years for Tiffany Amber & A Crown for Caribbean Couture

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 🗞️

Welcome back to another month. We’re stopping by in Lagos before heading back to New York City with the latest on-the-ground in both locales. Hope you enjoy!

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This week, we’re here for Confections x Collections in Cape Town, embracing gratitude via the latest from Klur, and catching the last days of Salon Art + Design. Plus: CFDA winners and Institute of Black Imagination. But first, toasting to a quarter-century with an icon…

25 YEARS FOR TIFFANY AMBER

It couldn’t be more perfect timing for the 25th anniversary runway show for Nigerian label Tiffany Amber. With a larger audience in town for Art X Lagos, the leading art fair in West Africa, founder Folake Akindele toasted to a quarter-century leading luxury fashion design with a packed house and the global spotlight that she deserves.

The outdoor show had all of the drama and magnanimity that one would expect from one of Nigeria’s long-tenured fashion houses, including requisite fireworks, traditional drummers, and choral performance in full Tiffany Amber robes no less. Yet, all of the attention was on the back-to-back banger looks iconizing this celebrated designer. Akindele represents one of the best out of a cohort that consistently proves out why the storied Nigerian fashion brands are legends with good reason — alongside stalwarts like Lanre Da Silva, Lisa Folawiyo, and Ituen Basi, women designers who established their fashion labels in the early 2000s, Akindele has set the foundation for the brightest emerging fashion talents out of Nigeria today.

In Akindele’s words, “for 25 years, Tiffany Amber has been a labour of love, a celebration of our African heritage, and a platform for women to express their individuality through fashion” — and lest you forget, Tiffany Amber has achieved significant global visibility during these twenty-five years, including its two-time history-defying runway showing at New York Fashion Week, where a young Chanel Iman in an embroidered Ankara trench coat walked for A/W 2009 (preceding Burberry’s appropriative collection in 2012, Stella McCartney’s in 2017, and Dior by Maria Grazia Chiuri’s in 2020). Akindele’s work no doubt inspired European houses to dizzying effect.

Flash forward and the 50-plus looks for the 25th anniversary spoke for themselves. A bright yellow cheddar cheese gown in silk-faille with sequin detailing was utterly fitting for the lifestyle of Tiffany Amber’s client base — from frolicking on the Riviera, taking in the views from the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and holding court on the black-tie gala circuit in Lagos. Another iridescent look in lavender demonstrated Akindele’s standout strength in vibrant monochromatism and her maximalism was on full display with stunning models draped in three-dimensional floral mini dresses atop bicycles. In all, the evening was a poetic and emotional tribute to one of the best talents to ever do it.

THE WINNERS AT CFDA

Let’s cut to the chase! For those who aren’t aware, the Council of Fashion Designers of America held their awards ceremony last week in New York. Rachel Scott of Diotima claimed the top crown for the American Womenswear of the Year Award and with it, a first-ever for the CFDA Awards. Scott has been on a tear this year and her take on Caribbean Couture finally got the attention it had earned. Other winners included Raul Lopez of LUAR, Willy Chavarria of Willy Chavarria, and Henry Zankov of Zankov.

Another critical moment (at least for us) was the honoring of Stephen Burrows with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award. We’ve written about Burrows before and his name is surely one for the annals in an era marked by Halston, Anne Klein, and Yves Saint Laurent. The Battle of Versailles was a success in no short order due to Burrows and his coterie of models — Pat Cleveland and Bethann Hardison amongst others. His award from the CFDA was in due recognition for his impact on contemporary fashion design.

Beyond the recipients, one red carpet high point was LaQuan Smith dressing Victoria Monet and Teyana Taylor for another viral moment following their Usher tribute performance earlier this year. Smith has cultivated such a clear brand expression and part of the appeal is the ‘hard-to-wear’ nature of his garments that truly only a tiny sub-segment of the population can pull off. To date, it’s working, but a healthy dose of brand partnerships don’t hurt to supplement the bottom line. Smith’s partnership with Samsung, including the Samsung Galaxy Ring, was the other plus-one on his arm that evening.

ON OUR RADAR

Our work on gentle beauty continues. Klur launched a new product Essentialist Transitional Moisture Cream earlier this week following four years and 38 iterations. Designed by founder-esthetician Lesley Thornton and manufactured in the US, this light multi-nutrient cream is expertly formulated with Vitamins B, C, E, Resveratrol, Hyaluronic Acid, and Marshmallow to restore skin barrier and moisture retention. (Link)

In other beauty news: French-born, New York-based founder Thérèse M'Boungoubaya announced the expansion of her safou oil body care brand Koba into face-specific products — called Ezali, the face range pushes the versatility of safou oil with the ultimate cleansing and hydrating duo — the Safou Sorbet Cleansing Balm & Light It Up Hydrating Face Cream. (Link)

In New York, founder Dario Calmese’s Institute of Black Imagination has recently opened a physical space at World Trade Center, including retail (hello Lagos Space Programme!) and appointment viewings of its fascinating permanent collection, including the archives of Andre Leon Talley. (Link)

For the ongoing Salon Art + Design, a booth to watch is Spotlight III featuring Little Wing Lee and Nifemi Marcus-Bello showing through November 11 at the Park Avenue Armory. (Link)

In Capetown, the third annual Confections x Collections just wrapped up a multi-day affair at Belmond Mount Nelson celebrating noteworthy African fashion designers Lukhanyo Mdingi, Rich Mnisi, IAMISIGO, and Lagos Space Programme over a delectable menu of sweet treats. (Link)