Post date: Jan 18, 2014 8:34:45 PM
With a dinner followed by a fashion show, the Africa Fashion Day Berlin wants to raise awareness for African culture and design in Germany while also honouring the late Nelson Mandela.
BERLIN, GERMANY (JANUARY 17, 2014) (REUTERS) - As the Berlin Fashion Week draws to an end, one of its latest highlights took place on Friday (January 17): Africa Fashion Day Berlin celebrated its second event during the fashion days with a fancy dinner and a show comprised of pieces by various designers with African or Caribbean roots.
The goal of Africa Fashion Day is to bring African fashion into the existing fold and to create a platform for African, Afro-Caribbean and African Americans living in Europe, said the founder of the event, Beatrace Angut Oola. She is herself German-born with Ugandan parents, and says the time is right for the fashion world to embrace design that is a combination of the European and African influences."Africa Fashion Day Berlin is a platform for designers of African heritage who are based on the continent or also here in the diaspora. It's a platform for them to present their collections, to network, to create business contacts. We want to bring awareness to the fashion people here in Europe and basically here in Germany," Oola told Reuters TV.
The event was also in honour of the late South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, said Oola. "Since we are doing this event we need to honour this gorgeous, incredible man and that is why we said we are going to have this tribute for Nelson Mandela with a South African dancer who performed South-Afro-fusion."
Braima Sori Ba is one of those designers. His extravagant suits already sell all over the world. He was born in Guinea Bissau and discovered his passion for good clothes early on in life. His label BSB sells from Hamburg, Hong Kong, New York and Bali.
Braima Sori Ba believes that fashion helps connecting people: "A suit is important. If you wear an interesting suit, you can be anywhere and people will talk to you. When I wear my suit, it does not matter where I am, people will approach me, I have met so many people because of it. Clothes are a means of communication," the designer told Reuters TV.