CHIKE MORDI
Renowned couture designer Chike Mordi prides himself on creating clothes that are sophisticated, yet unique and unexpected. Call it “elegance with an edge.” He is one of the most beautiful spirits I have encountered in my entire career,” says client NIMI Briggs. Briggs is hardly alone in her praise for the designer, celebrities such Eki Sylva, Her Excellency Judith Amaechi, Muma Gee, Ibinabo Fiberesima, have all been photographed in Chike’s impressive creations.
Known for his sleek sensual style and masterful use of colours, Chike’s award winning designs have been lauded all across the world as timeless pieces that celebrate the femininity of African women. With his professional label, Zhalima Grazioni, Chike shows that his artistry is based on combining elegance with unstructured fluidity.
The Asaba native graduated from the University of Benin, with a B.Eng. in Civil Engineering. In 2007, he established Zhalima Grazioni and won the Best Designer of the Port Harcourt Fashion Show in that same year. Soon his designs became the uncontested must-haves in the city and his fame began to spread abroad. His clothes are like butterfly wings, beautiful and free and with Zalima Grazioni’s position statement of “…clothing you in royal simplicity!”, Chike aspires to build the large fashion conglomerate for various stylish minds and markets in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
Chike’s accolades include: Winner African Fashion and Design Week, 2012, Winner Rivers Academy Award 2011, Official Designer for Miss Earth Nigeria & Nigerian Representative in Miss Earth World 2010/201, Winner African Culture and Tourism Award 2010. Chike says “I’d like my legacy to be a library of beautifully detailed gowns. When one looks back to all the celebrities I have dressed, (I’d like people) to say this was that these were certainly some of the most beautifully dressed women of their day.”
VERA JULIET OCHIA
VeeFashionHouse is locally based firm situated in malindi, Kenya. It has a local touch with an international outlook in the fashion industry led by vera (vee) Ochia, an up-and-coming fashion icon. Since its, inception VFH has gained a reputation for high fashion design and was punctuated with its innovative debut of an updated ballet flat that is resonating today.
It is dedicated to redefining the quality parameters in the capacity of the society and individuals to appreciate and keep in touch with the dynamism of the fashion trends and initiating a promising platform for the fashion industry on the coast of East Africa.
VHF offers niche fashion, unique accessories and handmade jewelry. The label outfits both men and women who have sophisticated sense of style and each collection is designed to accomodate the individuality of the wearer. VFH designs are functional, affordable and wearable. They are made from original African designs such as kangas, batik, tie and dye, Maasai fabrics, kitenge, animal prints and local beads.
As an up-and-coming designer with sheer verve and fortitude, Vera’s vision is to give young, fashion forward men and women a unique way to express their individuality through style, to have a dynamic and vibrant fashion house committed to meeting and exceeding the expectations of her clients and would be clients. Vera has showcased her designs internationally at the Swahili Fashion Week Tanzania, African Fashion Week New York and Miss Africa USA.
MAGBRANI BRIDALS
“Necessity pushed me into it, I never really wanted to do fashion. Fashion was just an extra something that I started doing in 1999 to augment the little resources available to me as an undergraduate. It became worthwhile and my passion for it grew gradually. It was on the wings of that passion that Magbrani Bridals was created in 2004.”
Magbrani Bridals is owned by Margaret Anietie Abraham fondly called Mrs. Abraham. She is passionate and particular about transforming her bride’s natural sparkle into a sun-like brilliance, and elevating her to a style icon as she floats through the aisle with her beau. She creates Red Carpet celebrities out of her bridesmaids too, and produces other kinds of garment for women on demand. The Magbrani label is inspired by the regality of the traditional African dress, the Onyonyo, most especially.
Mrs. Abraham is in love with African prints and believes in the internationalization of bridal gowns crafted with African fabrics. Her African inspired flair is constantly evolving as she look forward to dressing brides that will be forward enough to wear the Magbrani Afrikani line dedicated to the motherland inspired bride. She is an ardent fashion deconstructionist and holds a B.SC in Marketing from the University of Uyo, Uyo. She is married with five children.
STYLISH DESIRE
Nigerian fashion designer, Sharon Edet is the creative force behind the fashion label, Stylish Desire. She describes herself as a socialite and model whose foray into fashion started with an obsession with barbie dolls and her ardor for creating things with my hands.
Sharon is an Environmental science graduate from University of Calabar, her first love which is the making of pretty things, metamorphosed into an interesting fashion business and the result was the birth of STYLISHDESIRE. Stylish Desire prides itself n the production of couture fashion and prêt-a-porter fashion accessories.
Her works are an eclectic blend of functional and aesthetic inventiveness, through a preface of fresh fabrics and colours with timeless design and handy chic for the cosmopolitan woman.
Through her Stylish Desire, Sharon was awarded Calabar Best Fashion Designer 2012.
Her works have been exhibited variously at; African fashion and design week 2012 (Port Harcourt), Destiny’s Child Fasion Show 2012 (Calabar), Johnny Walker Fashion Show 2012 (Warri), Calabar Fashion Week 2012 (Calabar), Mr. Tourism Nigeria 2012 (Lagos).
Stylishdesire is on the journey to success. The brand was established in 2011.
COMRAPHL
Comfort Etim is the fashion designer behind the label Comraphl. She is from Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State and is presently an undergraduate of University of Uyo, studying for a B.sc in Communication Art. She has been setting the needle and thread in motion from her formative years. Comfort is an exclusive women’s wear designer and does millinery too.
The Comraphl designer gets her spark while sitting under the ministration of her pastor and from her immediate environment. She works with all kind of fabrics; but would choose wool and patches for suits, ankara for jumpsuits, and atypical fabrics for gowns. Her work pranced across its first runway at the Uyo Model Search (2012).
