February 2016 – Nene Kabutey Lander

The city of New York becomes a beacon for the fashion lovers every year as New York Fashion Week arrives with all the glimmering fashion shows and breathtaking designer outfits to amaze the people all over the world. Designers, models, celebrities and the media gather from around the globe to be a part of this humungous fashion occasion and witness its singularity.

New York Fashion Week 2016 proved to be extraordinarily diverse this year too and a massive turnout was seen from all over the world that came together to celebrate fashion in its own way.

One of the biggest events of this year’s New York Fashion Week was the launch of Kanye West’s clothing collection named YEEZY SEASON 3, very different and unique just like its predecessors, followed by the release of his latest music album ‘The Life of Pablo’.

Kanye’s family showed full support as Kim Kardashian-West along with the Kardashian-Jenner family and yes, not to forget North West, showed up dressed in their best at the show in their bejeweled dresses, ripped sweaters and fur coats making a fashion statement of their own. Many other celebs were also a part of this mega-episode of fashion.

At the same time, the Style Fashion Week gave many amazing designers a golden chance to present their collections in front of the world. Malan Brenton and House of Perna were among those designers as they debuted their eye-catching, bold and oh-so-colorful collections on the show availing that once in a lifetime golden opportunity.

Talking about the collections, they were amazing! The apparels were flaunting, austere and sexy, and complimented the wearer when put on. There was a variety that comprised of fishnet designs, fur coats, and jackets for both men and women. The collections had diversity in them and represented many different cultures, and that was the most flaunting trait about the clothes.

Not only the clothes, but the models that represented the collection were also from diverse cultures and that made the show stand out magnificently.

“I just loved the collection showcased tonight and the designs were so flaunting and vibrant,” said Jamil-an attendee from Italy, “I would definitely want to put those on!”

As the show ended, I caught up with the designers to know what inspired them, what was the X-factor in their lives that made them turn that idea into a whimsical, phenomenal and playful clothing line of theirs and the reason of their success.

“I come from a very unique family. We all are whimsically gifted and work miracles with our hands! I am a normal beach-town girl and my dad used to be a fisherman till the end of his days. We used to go fishing and I was always found playing with the fishnet, and that is where I got my inspiration from. Living in South Florida where it is warm, I got inspired of the bold colors and the freshness of them made me turn this talent of mine into a very provocative and bold but very sophisticated and elegant collection of whimsical silhouettes,” Amanda Perna from the House of Perna.

Perna rocked the entire New York Fashion Week 2016 with her very American retro chic collection designed for all American girls. After displaying her trendy work, A. Perna mingled with other guests and models and took some pictures with them, to save the precious moments of her life.

Other than the designers, the models who displayed the designers by wearing their apparels had the best makeup and hair-dos, and it gave them a very unique, distinctive and appealing look that complimented their outfits.

Makhali, one of the models, seemed pretty smitten by the fact of being there at the event and said, “For the first time in years I feel like I have accomplished something great in my life by being a part of the New York Fashion Week as a model, and also got the opportunity to wear clothes by many international designers. I am in love with every part of this event, I enjoyed it and it was a great experience for me”.

Marlo, another fashion designer at the New York Fashion Week event said, “The technique I followed was very simple. I wanted to change the perspective of the people when they see leather jackets and yes, I was able to do so! I went for a vintage look and it worked just right. And not to forget the models, who were absolutely amazing.”

Just like many other great events, this event also had an after party that was a golden opportunity for the people attending the party to network.

It was indeed a very huge opportunity for the models and designers to interact, but also for the press and media who availed the chance and interviewed the people about their views concerning the mega-event.

Just like always, New York Fashion Week 2016 was also a great success in bringing the fashion lovers together to the city that never sleeps.

#BlackLivesMatter. This phrase has been trending and has been under discussion among the people for the past couple of years and the reason behind this is the fact that many incidents have happened in which many black lives have been lost because of police brutality towards the black community.

Some people are also of the view that if the victims cooperate during interrogation with the law enforcement officers, a lot many lives can be saved. Whilst some say that it is just a hate crime declaring racism as its origin.

Such a heartbreaking incident happened few years ago, in 2012, in which Trayvon Benjamin Martin, a young and innocent teenager, was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman and ended up losing his life. The killer lived his life without any repercussions to his inhumane deed just because of the fact that Martin was a black kid whereas Martin was accused to have killed himself, according to the post-humously.

After Trayvon Martin, 18-year old Mike Brown was also killed by the hands of a police officer and again this heartbreaking event went unnoticed by the eyes of the law. After that the Black community took a step to recognize their rights through the slogan ‘Black Lives Matter’, and have been working hard on the liberation of the Black people.

‘Black Lives Matter’ has become a global issue as many people are talking about it and this is definitely because of the benefits of social media where some people are also of the view that this issue will also fade like the others in the years to come.

People believe that the Black Lives Matter Movement is just a way of gaining attention by the black community, but others are also of the opinion that in this way an end can be brought to racism just like the slave trade ended years ago.

At the same time some people disagree to the above said notion and represent the outlook that the black community are also not careful as they end up into confrontations that lead to bad endings like someone losing his life. They think that black people also do not care about their lives and then face such repercussions in the end.

Here are some of the views that people gave regarding the hot issue ‘Black Lives Matter’.

“I had no idea what racism was and how big this issue was until I came here, to the United States to study,” said Nana Adjei.

Black Lives Matter Movement does not mean special to the countries that are used to having same skin tone and same culture, and they don’t experience such happenings in their locales.

Odei Anaan shared his views regarding racism and said, “Where I come from, we all are the same. I have read about racism that it is a big issue in the foreign countries but I never knew that it was THIS big an issue.”

Nowadays, many college students are striving to educate the youth on the Black Lives Matter issue.

According to them, it would be better to educate the younger generation about this issue to help them understand the situation. This may help relate them to it when they grow up.

These college students along with their professors are educating the youth especially the black youth to focus on their future by getting formal education and to be very determined in their lives so that they can build a safe future for themselves as well as for the generations to come.

Although this Black Lives Matter is still on the run, it is believed that the situation might change in the years to come for good.