Sapellé – a Paradise of Prints

Posted on October 15, 2012 by admin

Sapellé is an online multi-brand retailer of stylish women’s fashion
and accessories. Products combine modern styling with increasingly
popular African design influences, creating beautiful unique
contemporary pieces that are perfectly adaptable for today’s discerning
woman who seeks classically trendy pieces for her wardrobe.

For lovers of bold and bright prints like myself Sapellé is like paradise! The designs featured take the most amazing prints and styles from Africa but adapt them for a wearable look that can work for anyone, even with our weather in the UK!

Daphne Kasambala, the founder of Sapellé is passionate about bringing beautiful clothing made by innovative designers and talented crafts people to women seeking something new and fresh to complement their style. Sapellé’s ethical focus is on creating fair employment and pay through Fair Trade with African suppliers, and the company sources its products from a variety of design labels, independent artisans and social enterprises that have ethical and sustainable production principles.

Here are just some of the fantastic brands that you will find on Sapellé.

Choolips

Perhaps one of the most well known African inspired brands, Choolips is fun,contemporary and also affordable. This hand-batiked cotton dress is from the Gold Coast Collection and showcases traditional textile dyeing methods from West Africa.

Modahnik

A fantastic blend of avant garde eclecticism of Congolese art and culture. I love the vibrant colours mixed with cutting edge styles by Modahnik. How amazing is this dress?

Adjoa Osei

I love this label for the way that it translates African prints into clean lined staples that look so classic and are also easy to wear.

Sapellé also have their own range which includes this beautiful pencil skirt.

Please check out www.sapelle.com to see the full range of brands.

Ethical Fashion Brands in ASOS Green Rooms

Posted on June 10, 2012 by admin

I have, in the past, been a little critical of the ASOS Green Room for the fact that many of the clothes featured in it would not really be what I would consider ethical and they provided very little information on the ethics of the brands and clothes that they sold. I am pleased to say much of that has now changed and ASOS Green Room now contains quite a comprehensive collection of ethical brands as well as some of their own label clothes including the fabulous ASOS Africa Collection which has been produced by working with SOKO, a clothing production workshop for the export market that aims to create sustainable, fair employment and offer training and skills to some of the most impoverished communities in Kenya.

It also has a bit of information about each of the designers/ labels that it sells. I would however suggest that if you are unsure of whether a label fits with your ethics you look for further information on the brands own website.

I wanted to share some of the ethical brands and collections that are stocked in ASOS Green Rooms and have caught my eye.

ASOS Crochet Village

I love crochet and I love the way this dress incorporates it into a fresh and modern style of dress ! Crochet Village is part of ASOS collection and includes dresses, skirts and tops that fit perfectly with the other exciting and directional pieces in the collection. The collection is made in Bangladeshi village of Chonpara, it enables underprivileged communities to establish sustainable business through their local artisan craftsmanship.

Heti’s Colours

Heti’s Colours is the label of Heti Gervis, a colour forecaster and textile designer who has worked with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein. The collection is inspired by the softness and depth of colour created by hand-dyeing. The collection consists of tonal jersey pieces which are perfect for layering and colour blocking hand dyed in a community near Jaipur, India.

Choolips

Choolips combines ancient textile traditions with fun colourful prints and pretty dresses. The dresses featuring modern Batik prints on pure cotton made entirely in Ghana with both ethical and sustainable practices. Theses dresses are so perfect for summer!

TOMS

I have seen TOMS featured on quite a few fashion blogs recently and really love them for their simple laid back style, multiple choices of colour/ fabric and that they match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a
child in need.

What do you think? have you visited the Green Rooms at ASOS recently?

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

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Shop 4 Rwanda – Printastic African Dresses!

Posted on May 24, 2012 by admin

I have talked lots about prints this year, hence the use of my new favourite word ‘printastic’, partly because there seems to be so many amazing choices out there but also because they are probably my favourite thing to wear especially in the summer.

A few weeks back I posted about African prints and featured some amazing labels and since then I have discovered yet more amazing prints at Shop 4 Rwanda. The current collection features traditional African prints combined with contemporary styles but what also struck me about this collection is that it is really affordable. With skirts from £12 and dresses from £20, no one can claim that they can’t afford this ethical fashion and it probably costs far less than some of the imitation African print dresses that you will see on the high street.

Most people will have heard of Rwanda because of the genocide in 1994. But despite this terrible tradegy, the country, also known as ‘Land of a Thousand Hills’ has much to offer including these beautiful clothes made from fabrics and imported from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Many of the children who live on the streets of Rwanda’s capital Kigali lost their families during the genocide or were abandoned by their mothers. Shop 4 Rwanda is the charity’s retail outlet for the crafts that former street children make as part of their vocational skills classes at Centre Marembo, in Kigali, Rwanda. This is where dedicated staff help turn homeless children’s lives around by taking them off the streets and bringing them into a secure, loving and mutually respectful environment.

I really like the way this works, beautiful clothes at an affordable price without the gimmicks and the marketing. 100% of the proceeds from the sales of these clothes go back to the children who make them and help to support charitable projects supporting and helping vunerable young people in Rwanda. Which means you can afford to treat yourself – guilt free! What do you think?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

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Ethical Prints For Spring Summer 2012

Posted on April 14, 2012 by admin

Prints are massive news at the moment! I have always been a lover of bold, bright and beautiful prints even when minimalism was in fashion but now they are everywhere that I look, I am even more tempted by them. Bold and bright prints is just one area where ethical fashion comes into its own with traditional methods of printing and local inspiration being used create contemporary fashion pieces in Fairtrade cooperatives and ethical fashion initiatives around the world. Let the high street copy and take inspiration from the prints of Africa, Asia and South America but I would much prefer the real thing because prints this beautiful transcend fashion and trends.

Check these Out!

Lalesso uses the creative talent of Kenyan artisans after realising the raw talent, incredible design aesthetics, rich resources and beautiful people that the country has to offer.

Modahnik is a US based label founded by Kahindo Mateene, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sika is a fantastic brand that I have only just discovered (and really glad I did!). They use fabrics sourced from local Ghanaian markets and hand-made using natural methods, creating exclusive limited prints. Each unique piece defines an area in West Africa’s vast textile landscape, using traditional fabrics such as tie dye, batik’s and wax prints.

Fair + True are a contemporary brand with an eclectic collection of clothes made in Kenya and Malawi under a Fair Trade schemes.

suno 4 Ethical Prints For Spring Summer 2012 Suno is a New York based womenswear label which produces clothes in Kenya, India and Peru using combination of traditional, local techniques and high-end tailoring, with an emphasis on fit and fabric.