FASHION AUCTION HOUSE

My Experience – by Didi

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:11:50 +0000

Volunteering for This Present House’s ‘Life Centre at Empire’, changed my perception of urban Lagos life. I mean, I was not naïve at the time and was well aware that most urban cities faced their own share of poverty and illegal activity, particularly developing economies like ours here in Nigeria.

But one Sunday, hurrying into the Life Centre (practically half an hour late), I met chaos.

Two little boys, of ages about 7 and 9, had been found smoking Indian hemp. And the Life Centre’s fulltime volunteers, who are extremely patient, and so dedicated, were rather disturbed by this. After dealing with that, I was asked to accompany the Empire team to go and pray with a woman who had been unable to attend the Life Centre for a couple of weeks. She had been ill, and they were concerned. On arriving, it was clear that she was a resident at one of the many brothels in the area. To be frank, as we approached her home, I could smell so much Indian hemp, that I am convinced I got a little high just walking down the street!

When we arrived, we prayed with her and the Empire team provided her with medication. The woman had apparently recently stopped working as a commercial sex worker. She asked us several times that day, if and when she could go to ‘Genesis House’. She seemed so earnest and eager that it made me wonder about Genesis House, their program, and about what would happen to the her, if she couldn’t get into the program.

It was after this, that I first visited Genesis House; and I sincerely feel that my experience there really was more enriching for me than even the young women residents that I had the privilege of meeting. After a few visits to the house, I had the opportunity to become involved with mentoring. The Genesis House Program Coordinator emphasized that mentoring can be far more effective at changing the lives of the women in the house, in a more practical and positive way, than the odd donation. (This is not to suggest donations are unimportant, because of course they are vital for the continued running of the House!)

I got to see firsthand and understand the whole essence of Genesis House. The shelter exists to provide an enabling atmosphere and give another prospective to the young women resident’s perception of their individual circumstances. Genesis House is all about bringing practical changes in their attitudes and abilities, so that they are equipped to take control of their circumstances. And when this is done with an attitude of prayer, you really learn that anything is possible!

I feel totally humbled by my experiences with the girls at Genesis House. After talking to them, you realise even more how blessed you are, and you learn that you are in a position to be a blessing to so many others.

Most of the young women I met really were victims of the sex trade in Nigeria, but admittedly not all of the young women were. But I learned that even in those circumstances where a young woman goes into the sex trade willingly and with her eyes open (perhaps because of material desires or for what some might call ‘big eye’), there is extreme disfunctionality surrounding her individual situation.

A lot of young women in our society are led astray, in some cases because of their quest for fashion clothing and accessories. Their actions and life stories affect me deeply because I design fashion accessories for a living! Perhaps this makes me empathise more with the mission of Genesis House, but I am certain that those amongst you who take it on yourselves to visit the house and get involved in the charity, will believe as I do that these women deserve a second chance for life, for hope and for new beginnings.

Didi Ocheja is the Creative Director of Didi Isah, a fashion accessories label formerly known as ‘Eden’

The Dingy Room – by Bella

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:02:43 +0000

A few weeks ago, I picked up the Saturday edition of Punch which I spotted laying around my house. Weekend editions of Nigerian newspapers are almost always a very entertaining read. They have all sorts of articles from entertainment news to investigative reports. I usually read it, shake my head as I read about the political mayhem, laugh out loud at the other incredulous stories and then forget all about it.

However, there was something about this paper that struck a chord, there was an article titled “I slept with an average of 7 men a day”. I was taken aback by the headline. I read the article and it was both heartbreaking and infuriating. The subject of the article was a teenager named Agatha, who was lured away from her village in Enugu by a family friend who promised her a job as salesgirl in Ibadan. She ran away from home despite pleas from her grandmother. As soon as she landed in Ibadan, she was handed over to her new ‘owner’. I say owner because she was sold. She was taken to a dingy hotel, starved for 3 days and despite her pleas, she was threatened with violence. After that point, her life as a sex slave began. Being abused by various men everyday with her ‘pay’ being pocketed by her ‘owner’, ironically named Madam Best. Agatha was very lucky, a would-be customer helped her escape and a kind stranger ensured that she was not recaptured by her madame and her crew.

Many of us live our lives blissfully unaware of ‘Agathas’ all around Nigeria. We hear many stories of Nigerian girls prostituting in Italy, when you are driving at night, you see women dressed in the skimpiest outfits waiting for their next customer, if you go to the clubs, you see women ‘winding’ in acrobatic ways and going home with patrons. At this point, we are almost nonchalant about it. Sometimes, we hiss and say things like “Ashewo” under our breath or maybe we say a silent prayer for them. While very few of these women make the choice to enter this profession, there is a huge percentage of young girls (Many as young as 11) who have been pushed and coerced into this seedy world and from where they are standing, there is no escape. In my western influenced mind, where I have been raised to believe that, we all have a CHOICE. I always wondered, why don’t these girls just leave. Why do they keep doing this? Well, I found out that leaving is not an option in most cases. These girls are alienated from their families and are threatened with violence and even “spiritual consequences” such as death and madness (many of the girls are made to swear various oaths) if they try to leave.

So this is it. That is their life. A painfully numb existence. An unending cycle of having sex with men to survive.

Thank God that some people are trying to help these girls reclaim their lives. The Freedom Foundation setup the Genesis House, a safe home for young female victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. I along with a group of friends visited the Genesis House a few weeks ago. We toured the facilities and spoke to the administrators. It’s a simple house tasked with a complex challenge – To help these girls who have been battered and abused to rebuild their confidence, lives and future. The girls go through a 6 to 9 month programme. They receive counseling, reorientation and job/skills training.

Indeed, they have their whole lives ahead of them. The youngest girl in the house is just 13 years old…

I went back to the Genesis House to speak to the girls a few days later and that experience was a revelation. I met Cynthia* – Cynthia is a pretty and bubbly girl. She’s been in Genesis House for only a few weeks. As with many girls, she ran away from home to Lagos. She had dropped out of school after her JSS3 exams, her mother had died and father said he couldn’t foot the bills for her transportation anymore – it cost 200Naira a day – less than $2. A friend encouraged her to move to Lagos, that she would work with her in a beer parlour. She sent her money for her bus fare. When she arrived in Lagos, she discovered her friend was living in a hotel – working as a prostitute. At this point, Cynthia who was still in her teens, had no money to go back home. She started what she refers to as “the job”.

She took me into her world. She explained that the registration fee for each girl in the hotel in 5000 naira. Every month, they were charged 2000naira for Police dues, 150 naira for the DJ and 900naira daily as their dues. Shockingly, the owner of the hotel has a ‘conglomerate’ of 7 such hotels in Lagos. When we calculated the owner makes several millions per year from these girls. He even lives in one of the hotels with his 3 wives and children. Each day, different types of men would come into their tiny rooms with all sorts of requests. She charged 500 to 1500 naira for ‘short time’. For years, Cynthia did this. She told me “I didn’t even think about any future….what future?” Cynthia didn’t dare to think of leaving. When the Freedom Foundation visited her hotel, she was very reluctant to leave. She sought the advice of a mentor, a woman who had been a prostitute for over twenty years. Cynthia said – The woman advised me not to leave, she told me to keep working as a prostitute and “save money to start my own business”. It’s so funny that in her 20 years of being a prostitute, the woman giving the rotten advice has not saved any money to start her own business.

One of the reasons that Cynthia was so reluctant to leave was because she owed her pimp 7000 naira. An amount that many of us spend of recharge cards each week, that is what was tying her to that life. Eventually, the Freedom Foundation paid her debt and Cynthia entered the Genesis House. It has not been an easy adjustment but now she is firmly committed to turn her life around. I ask her what her plans are for the future. She excitedly tells me that she wants to be a hairdresser and own her own salon. I ask her if she sees herself going back, she emphatically says “NEVER”.

It’s a blessing that Cynthia and girls like her have a chance to live positive and happy lives. Graduates of the Genesis House have gone on to success including one with a successful farm. Another girl that I spoke to has been offered a job at an events decoration company; she also plans to enroll in university part-time. Younger graduates of Genesis House go to back to full-time education – a young 14 year old graduate of Genesis House is currently in a boarding secondary school. A total 360 degree change from her previous life.

I strongly believe that there is joy in sharing with others. Doesn’t have to be money but your time is also valuable. The girls of the Genesis House need positive mentors and many are eager to learn a skill. Perhaps you can open up your business to apprenticeship opportunities or donate some items.

It’s so sad that a common element in most of these stories is WOMEN. Fellow women recruiting their “sisters” into these dangerous situations. You can make a difference by advocating and educating women around you. Also there is no prostitution without customers; I believe that any man who respects himself should not have to pay for sex. You can do something by raising awareness on these issues and promoting stricter penalties for solicitation.

Let’s do something to ensure that girls like Agatha and Cynthia can dare to dream of a life beyond a deflated mattress on the floor of a dingy room.

Uche Eze is the Editor of Bella Naija, Nigeria’s foremost entertainment and lifestyle website.

Make a Difference – by Omoyemi

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:34:13 +0000

Fashion and charities are inextricably linked world over and one can not help but wonder why? Maybe we can put it down to fashion being the easiest tool people can use to show their ‘philanthropic’ side? I recently discovered that there was more to charities than just sending the occasional obligatory feel good money or things.

It was Christmas season 2009, just another Christmas in my household, a time for sober reflections, gratitude to God, and a time to finalise all activities on my to do list for 2009. Paramount on my list of religious end of year activities was decluttering my wardrobe and disposing of the outcome to whatever charity that was available; a process that has become even much easier these days since you never have to see or deal with the people that benefit directly from the charity…. just drop off clutter at designated places, and phew!! There goes my good deed for 2009 and the Christmas season!

However, Christmas 2009 ended up being different somehow, as I made up a fresh list of items that my brain had convinced me I needed for my wardrobe, when it hit me…. I am so wrapped up in my little world and nothing else matters outside this world I have created for myself – every other thing takes a back seat if it is not to do with my family or my work. You must understand though that being so wrapped up in my work actually contradicts my stand as a fashion consulting pioneer in the Nigerian Fashion Industry. My vision has always been to leave a legacy that goes beyond me, and I have a strong desire to fulfil that higher purpose of making a difference in the Nigerian Fashion Industry.

Genesis House proved to be a fantastic starting point. After all, I had sat there silent time and time again in This Present House, watching countless videos about the women of Genesis House, and had never lifted a finger, except to donate some money obligatorily in the offering basket. My decision to go into the house and pamper the women for a day was the right step towards the calling I intend to see through. The strategy was not to make this about me, because that would have been the easiest thing to do – create media frenzy about giving and score some cheap publicity for my brand. Instead, I called a couple of friends in the industry photographer – Moussa Moussa and make up artist – Bimpe Ogunmakin – with the mission to go and spend a day with the ladies, treat them to a make over session as best as we could with clothes, make up and hair styling, and a ‘before and after’ photo shoot just to make them feel good, beautiful and loved.

Guess what?

It turned out to be one of the most fulfilling days of my life and it helped me ascend to a higher place of thinking – it was the kind of reminder we all need once in a while. That the clothes we wear, the shoes we wear and how we look don’t define who we are. We are defined by a greater purpose, and mine is to make a difference everywhere I go, and to touch lives, using fashion as a tool. At Genesis House, we shared stories, ate lunch together, settled differences, took photos together, even dressed a couple of them up for a wedding they were attending on the day, and then later dropped them off at the wedding. There are images I would love to share with you, but I promised the girls the photos would never be used for anything else because they were simply gifts for them.

The lessons learned?

That behind every charity, there are actual people, and that it goes a longer way to actually connect with them and be a part of their world – to understand that we are not that special after all, we don’t choose what families we are born into, but it’s the special grace of God that keeps us all (including those lovely women of Genesis House). And for that, we are all truly blessed!

When we walk into the ‘Eden’ auction on April 18th, some of us will emerge one bag richer, and some of us, one bag poorer. But let’s all remember Genesis House – a Freedom Foundation initiative that can only survive on the contributions of you and I. And let’s not see it just as a means of disposing of clutter in our lives, but as a step towards actually enhancing the quality of other people’s lives, and giving them hope above all… that they are beautiful women just like you and I.

Omoyemi Akerele is the Fashion Editor of Flair Magazine. This piece was taken from stylehousefiles.com, a one-stop destination for all things fashion!

Making Ends Meet – by Wadami

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:07:16 +0000

I am not going to pretend like I have always been aware of the extent of Human-Trafficking that goes on IN Nigeria. Yes, IN Nigeria i.e. within our borders. It isn’t exactly the kind of news that the popular media outlets here want to feature – it isn’t Politicians’ money laundering, Top CEO’s embezzlements or the latest “bigz boys or girls gossip”. Instead, if you ever hear about it, it’s once in a blue moon! Aren’t we still reigning praises on Isoke Aikpitanyi who, in 2003, made the brave move to leave Italy after she had been trafficked to “work the streets”? Isoke was jeered at, humiliated, raped, beaten, and nearly stabbed to death – this much is true. But since her story, how many others has the media told? Trafficking is still rampant in Nigeria, and I am sitting here wondering why we are still allowing to happen? Especially in such a vibrant city as Lagos – let’s not even begin to THINK of how much worse it is outside Lagos!

I am only one tiny voice in this community, and I really wish we all took this issue more seriously. I encountered Freedom Foundation recently – an organization that is putting its money where its mouth is… The individuals Freedom Foundation rescues are vulnerable. Some were sold by their own parents as barter for debts, and from ages as young as 13, they have been drugged up to work the streets of Lagos, serving as objects to enrich other men – men who bully and threaten their lives, e-ver-y-day.

You may be reading this, and thinking that you heard this story already somewhere, and why do these women all have the same story? My curiosity however, prompted me to meet and interview one of the residents of Genesis House – a rehabilitation center that houses women who are victims of the failures in our society, women that are now being rescued by the Freedom Foundation’s initiative.
I’ve always thought that it should take much more than a girl being manhandled, for her to choose to lead such a lifestyle. But after meeting this lady, I am realizing that a lot of these problems boil down to the fact that we don’t have the right government! Or perhaps we have a government that cares less about its women than it should? I mean what would you do if despite all your best efforts to make a living for yourself and your child, you still couldn’t make ends meet? What if you had absolutely nowhere else to turn? Can any of us women really say with full confidence that after months of watching our children going hungry, we wouldn’t resort to selling our bodies just to ensure that they could eat?

Click here (or visit www.fashionafrica.com) to read my interview with one of the young women living at Genesis House!

Fashion for Positive Action

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:38:41 +0000

It’s been a little under a year since our last auction, and in that time, Fashion Auction House has really evolved. Our 3rd auction, themed ‘Eden’, is coming soon to a bar and lounge near you (uh…Saipan) on April 18th. And we are really EXCITED about it!!

‘Eden’ will not just be a one-day auction and boutique featuring achingly beautiful designer handbags and shoes, it will also be an awareness drive for the Genesis House women’s rehabilitation centre, which is run by the Freedom Foundation.

A week ago, the Fashion Auction House Team visited Genesis House, to see for ourselves, just how much work and help they needed. Genesis House is a shelter for victims of trafficking and sexual slavery, and the progress they have made thus far at their shelter in Surulere, is simply inspiring.

We’ve all read about the Nigerian girls who get tricked into trips abroad to countries like Italy, Belgium and more – where they are subsequently subjected to humiliation and forced into prostitution. In fact, the stories of these ‘Nigerian sexpats’ are so common now, that we probably just accept international trafficking as yet another problem in the country that the government needs to sort out.

What most of us are however ignorant of, is the thousands of other women who are subjected to internal trafficking, within the country’s borders. And these, are the women that Genesis House seeks to rescue.

The Fashion Auction House Team on Sunday, watched interview footage featuring girls as young as 13 and 14, who are required by pimps in slums around Mushin, Jakande etc to perform sexual acts with all manners of men for as little as N300 or N400. Beaten down and abused, most of the women by the time they reach age 16 or 17 have had at least one child for an unknown man. The sheer exhaustion and resignation on their faces initially led us to believe that they were at least in their twenties, and our jaws dropped when we discovered just how young they were.

On April 18th (put it in your diary and BB calendar now!), Fashion Auction House together with the Freedom Foundation, will wage war on trafficking in Nigeria, by raising funds and awareness for the women at Genesis House. Every single one of the handbags that we offer up in the live auction and boutique, will be sold 100% for Genesis House’s benefit. And if you doubt us for a second, note that every cheque we collect from buyers on the day, will be written directly to the Freedom Foundation.

If you don’t already know this, the Freedom Foundation is an NGO and a non-profit organisation committed to empowering individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged, through community based programs, like Genesis House and many others. For more information on the work that they do, and to see how you can get involved, please click here. The special projects committee consisting of Adeola Bali, Omome Osime and so many others, are working tirelessly with us on this auction.

‘Eden’, is an auction that we feel very strongly about at Fashion Auction House, and I feel it’s necessary to explain that when I say “we”, I’m not just being a pompous twit who uses the royal “we” There is actually a team of fantastic people behind Fashion Auction House, and they will be playing very special roles in getting ‘Eden’ off the ground.

Dammie Amolegbe (Director of fashion e-zine HauTe/ Fashion Africa.com), Rukky Ladoja (Creative Director of GREY and the columnist behind Rukky’s Frocks in Elan) and Uche Eze (Director of Bella Naija.com) have all gotten knee-deep into ‘Eden’, to the point where I’m beginning to feel like a bit of a lazy bum in comparison.

Alongside them, there will be so many other wonderful individuals working on this too, including Obi Obi (our auctioneer extraordinaire), Omoyemi Akerele (Fashion Editor of True Love Magazine), Didi Ocheja (Creative Director of Didi Isah), Lisa Folawiyo (Creative Director of Jewel by Lisa), Carmen Sutherland (Director of Spark Creative) and of course, the rest of the Ladies’ Night Crew (I love these ladies!)

You’ll be hearing from me very soon, and make sure you JOIN THE MAILING LIST and follow us on our FACEBOOK PAGE to ensure that you don’t miss out on all the action!

Lots of love. Xxx

Heavenly Frosted Cupcakes

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:50:42 +0000

See! They're being eaten already!

So I caved in and had another photo shoot. Apparently you lot weren’t convinced that there would be more than 15 items for sale on Sunday, despite our having advertised an offering of 40+ items. Are you guys demanding, or what?

Well now the surprise is ruined, and the few jewels I was saving as some sort of heavily frosted cupcakes, if you will, for all you budding handbag collectors, have been unveiled… But without all the pomp and ceremony I’d been concocting in my silly little head.

On Sunday, as you now know (because it’s plastered all over the bloody Catalogue page – I’m really quite upset about this), you will have the opportunity to purchase four VINTAGE handbags by none other than Chanel and Hermès! Are you excited? Or ARE YOU EXCITED?

It’s only very rarely that an FAH source agrees to part with such special pieces, and so we are literally savouring every minute of this. Even if you lot don’t buy them, we will still be so thrilled to have had them in our auction. Their inclusion in the catalogue really has made all the coughing, sneezing and wheezing (some of us don’t handle stress very well you see?) worthwhile.

But… umm… Please don’t take what I just said as some sort of invitation to arrive on Sunday, gawk at the four items and not bid.

On Sunday you must bid, bid, BID oh!! You really must! I want to see hands raised frantically, and even pushing and SHOVING if need be! SCRATCH that girl’s eye out if she dares to outbid you, TRIP her up if you need to. Do WHATEVER it takes to get your hands on these precious (and now I’m referring to all the catalogue) items. Because I promise you, you’ll be kicking yourself on Monday morning when you wake up in a cold sweat having spent the night dreaming of that chunky, soft and deliciously Chanel, shopper, only to find yourself surrounded by nothing but last season’s Guccis and Pradas!

(P.S. We have nothing but loooove for Gucci or Prada, or for the year 2008. We’re just tired, hungry, sniffly, and obsessing over VINTAGE finds à ce moment).

SEE YOU ON SUNDAY!! Xxx

Chiconomics 101

admin — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:50:30 +0000

If N-a-P can do it, so can we!
So the finance industry has taken huge blows this year, and the knock-on effects have been astounding.

But I’ve been watching you… all you hot, young mamacitas. I’ve seen you pack out fashion shows, attack clothing racks and fight for changing rooms. Yes, the economic situation is tough at the moment, but you still want to look good, you still have a million weddings, birthdays and cocktail parties to rock up to, and are therefore still very much in love (and in lust) with fashion.

In February we launched Fashion Auction House at ‘Mint Condition’ with a debut collection of 150 items. This time around, at ‘Chiconomics’, we’re proposing a free, cocktail-assisted, invaluable lesson in the art of shopping with the brain and budget of an economist.

We’re offering only 40 of the edgiest, chic-est designer handbags and shoes at wallet-friendly, non credit crunch crunchy, prices. (You saw the prices last time ladies, those of you in the know know that our first auction was literally a steal!)

The catalogue will be up in a few days and you’ll be able to see for yourselves. Chloe, Stella McCartney, Marni, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Bottega… The list goes on.

So dear friends… the economy has gone cuckoo and what are you going to do? Grab your best girlfriends, your cheque books, your debit cards (we’ll be taking Interswitch this time! Hurrah!), and sprint down to Saipan on the 14th of June for an essential lesson in ‘Chiconomics’.

*The live auction will begin at 4.30pm prompt. Pre-bids can be submitted from 3pm on the day.*

Recession Blues

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:29:05 +0000

So apparently we’re in the middle of a recession. Did you know this? I have been told it a million times in the last 2 months, but call me crazy, I can’t see it anywhere! Can anybody help me? What does a recession look like? What should it look like? Lagos is still as noisy as ever, hawkers are still selling everything under the sun in the streets, and people are still buying all these things that they will probably never use. Business couldn’t be better at Strands and The Nail Place, where I happen to be sitting right now typing away. And Nigerian women are still walking into hair salons dressed from head to toe in net-a-porter’s finest! They are probably even looking more fabulous these days, or is it that I just happen to be paying closer attention, given my own comparative non-fabulousness.

Why am I moaning about the recession? Because I want to have another auction, that’s why! And this bloody recession is getting in my way. Someone told me the other day that the women FAH targets probably haven’t and won’t be affected by this mythical green-eyed monster. How true is this I wonder? Perhaps I’ll just go ahead and plan the June auction regardless, and then find out the hard way?

We’ll see.

Before I forget, the website has been updated. Though you probably already know this if you’re reading this post. (Gosh is anyone going to read this post?!) I’m too ashamed to send an email out to the Mailing List informing them of the updates because Mint Condition was a whole 35 days ago. 35 days ago!! I had no clue I could be this disorganised. In fact before the auction I thought of myself as some kind of super-woman, indestructible and capable of anything, even running a one-woman ship, planning an auction, hosting an auction, chasing buyers, chasing sellers, updating a blog, and holding down a full-time job.

Yes, I’m heading to the doctor now to get my head checked. Xxx

Two Weeks Later

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:01:13 +0000

I have my life back now, and it’s a wonderful thing. It’s a terrible thing for Fashion Auction House though because the slideshow is still screaming at you to come on the 15th of Feb to Mint Condition, the catalogue and its prices are still incorrect, the blog is stale and the Photo Album page, which I promised would be up two days after the event, is non-existent. It isn’t even a foetus, I have done squat.

I should apologise for how bad I’ve been, but when I consider the amount of sleep-deprivation I suffered in the run up to MC, and the number of hang-out sessions, pool parties, drinks parties and club nights I missed out on, my acute laziness feels somewhat justified.

Mint Condition went brilliantly and this post, among other things, is a huuuuuge thank youuuuu to everyone who came out on the 15th. Saipan was packed with beautiful men and women, and even though I didn’t get the chance to chat to everyone because I was running around like a headless chicken, it was amazing to see people really enjoying themselves. I suppose the cosmpolitans, margaritas and champagne did more than their fair share at creating such a buzz-filled atmosphere, and so I should thank them too. Thanks drinkies!!

Don’t worry folks, photos from the event will be up soon, I promise! Though you probably don’t care anymore seeing as Mint Condition is probably a thing in the distant past to you now. Well like it or not, there will be photos, and a new slideshow, and you’ll see all this one way or another, especially as I will be bombarding you all with yet another email any minute now.

The next event is already in the pipeline and promises to be even better than our launch party! If you haven’t already joined the Mailing List now would be a good time to do so, unless you want to miss out on the juicy deets when they become available. Send an email with the subject title ‘Mailing List’ to info {at} fashionauctionhouse {dot} com.

I will be back… (sooner than you think)… Xxx

Dudu-Love

admin — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:23:10 +0000

“Ah ah, who are all these white girls?”

“Do you not like black women Toks?”

“Nice website, but how about a little colour maaan?”

Hold up people! I am a lover of all things dudu-related. I just happen to be a little colour blind when stressed, under pressure and working towards a ridiculous deadline.

I didn’t notice a thing until the comments started to pour in. When you’re restricted to (a) high fashion campaigns (meaning shoots in magazines don’t count), (b) horizontal images to fit the slideshow, (c) high-resolution images i.e. 1200 x 1200 pixels or higher (sorry to get technical), and (d) colourful, contextual images that will escape Fiona’s power of veto… You’re just grateful when you find anything at all.

The complaints from my friends, their friends and their friends’ baby-mamas, sent me running back to google yesterday, frantically searching for some women of colour. And guess what? I didn’t find a single one. Aside from Naomi Campbell whose recent campaigns only include YSL and Louis Vuitton (isn’t that just shocking for someone of Naomi’s stature?) the only pictures I could find were from Liya Kebede’s incredibly brief stint at Lanvin. And they were tiny. Plus she wasn’t even the star of the bloody show! A very white and very pale Raquel Zimmerman was in there too! I remember Fiona bringing this issue up a while ago, and me replying that we had already used Naomi’s YSL campaign to death on both the posters and the e-vites for Mint Condition, and that I really didn’t think it would matter. But I can see that it does! Every single person I’ve spoken to since Sunday’s web launch has raised the issue.

On a serious note though… Why are none of the big name black models fronting the high fashion campaigns? A google search for Alek Wek turned up squat, same for Oluchi, Tyra (though can’t say I’m surprised) and newbie Chanel Iman. What’s more, if Naomi, who wines and dines with the best of them, only managed to bag two campaigns under her belt in recent times, while Kate ‘We Love You But Seriously Woman, Take A Break!’ Moss continues to turn up everywhere, I am inclined to think that something fishy is underway. Aren’t you? Do black women not photograph as well? Obviously we do, otherwise we wouldn’t feature in the beauty campaigns or in shoots for fashion magazines. So why isn’t one of us flaunting this year’s must have accessories? Would the world really be a different place if Jordan Dunn and not Christy ‘Same Face Every Time’ Turlington, was rocking a croissant in one hand and a 2.55 in the other?

I have half a mind to bring this up with Anna (Wintour, I mean) when next we do lunch at Cipriani. Or maybe I’ll mention it to Largie (Karl, that is) over a spot of tea at The Ivy. Till then, I’ll just content myself with yam and egg stew at Robert’s Café, and send out this S.O.S. —> If you have images, any images at all that align with the criteria listed before, and feature beautiful beautiful black women, you know my email address. Oops maybe you don’t… It’s tokini {at} fashionauctionhouse {dot} com.

And if you’re thinking, “STOP WHINGEING AND TAKE YOUR OWN BLOODY PHOTOS!” as one of my guy friends yelled this afternoon (the yelling was via BBM but still packed a powerful punch) then I will have to ask you to wait until the auction is over, to see what more we have in store. Though what we bring to life will depend on how much you all spend at the auction. So get your butts to Saipan on Sunday and… Bid, Bid, BID!!!

Xxx