Peace Fashionistas,

The anticipation was in full force for the Arise African Fashion Collective. While standing in line, you can only notice the following that This Day Publications has created. After huge success and rave reviews for their Fall 2009 Collection, it's no wonder why the Arise show was the hautest venue at the Tents.

As the show began, there was this sense of hype that you couldn't explain. It felt like a breath of fresh air along with a fashion rush. Arise Promise of Africa featured four fabulous designers from some of the most stylish backgrounds throughout the continent: Jewel by Lisa Folawiyo, Eric Raisina, Folake Folarin-Coker of Tiffany Amber and David Tlale who all brought extreme fashion to the runway. while alot of designers have become predictable, who knew...?

Let's recap the show!

Jewel by Lisa Folawiyo: Very dainty with an edge. With the combination of beads, Swarovski crystals and sequins added to chiffon, lace, linen and taffeta, Jewel is for that "think out of the box" fashionista who isn't afraid of printed fabric embellished to its beauty. Her full skirt caused a minor Awe attack during the show. As intricately designed, you can really don one of her frocks and not bother with Jewelry; after all, it's Jewel!

Tiffany Amber by Folake Folarin-Coker: Elegance flowed on the runway with beautiful metallic fabrics followed by gorgeously draped textiles. What really added a bit of romanticism were the lace dresses with the printed layering fabric beneath. Most of the collection were in a sense dreamy yet, some new must haves. With the inspiration of an artist's take on Kaleidescopes, Folake made abstracts beautiful, if never before.

Eric Raisina: Layered ruffles and rouching on bold colors were an eye popper from start to finish. Each piece reminds you of (imagine, if you will) flamboyant Peacock feathers adding a bit of Model Star power to it with Chanel Iman gracing the runway. The "Honeymoon in Madagascar" approach brought forth some textiles that showed attention to detail. In a nutshell, Unique and absolutely Universal.

The last to show was South Africa's David Tlale: He brought beautiful beading and embellishment to his collection, tasseled hems, floral essence and something for the men to shop for as well. He gave us beauty with a one-shoulder trumpet gown with rhinestone seams and detail. This collection did not miss a beat from the beading to the knitting, down to Tyson Beckford being a dose of eye candy for the ladies.

What a fantastic show! and what a packed house it was backstage. There, we had the likes of Reggae Super star, Sean Paul, fashion's own Beth-Ann Hardison and Amerie.

Overall, after having gone to so many shows at the Tents, never have I had such anticipation to view a collection like the Arise Promise of Africa Spring 2010 Collection.

We can't wait til February!
Here's to being fabulous
Diata


All photo credits go to Jaecyne Howell of MoonRisingNYC.com.

for a complete view of all photos of the Arise fashion show, go to www.moonrisingnyc.com