Nigerian Designer Joy Meribe Opens Milan Fashion Week, Gabrielle Union Relaunches Fashion Line, More

From fashion weeks to new fashion collections, the fashion industry is ever sizzling with the news. This week in fashion, a Nigerian-born designer Joy Meribe opened Milan Fashion Week, Actress Gabrielle Union relaunched her fashion line and many more. Stick with us as we dive into the latest news in the global fashion industry.

Nigeria-Born Designer Joy Meribe Opens Milan Fashion Week

On Wednesday, Nigeria-born fashion designer Joy Meribe opened Milan Fashion Week with her debut runway collection. The Italian National Fashion Chamber requested Meribe to open six days of womenswear previews for Spring-Summer 2022 after her inaugural collection for the “We Are Made in Italy” initiative last year was commercially successful.

“Beyond whatever video, proclamation or manifesto that we make, the real test is whether clients buy your products. Joy passed that exam,’’ said Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean, who helped launch the initiative in the summer of 2020. The initiative asked the question, “Do Black Lives Matter in Italian Fashion?” and was inspired by the U.S. movement and following racists behaviours by major Italian fashion houses.

The collection featured tiered and ruffled skirts and jackets featuring capes and trending styles. Meribe chose a splash of colours like bright yellow and aqua blue for the collection and also featured tropic prints. According to her, they were used as a celebration “a return to normality”.

“We have passed from a dark moment, and I wanted to create something full of hope and light, the joy of restarting,’’ said Meribe.

Following last year’s “Fab Five” inaugural show, the initiative that brought Meribe into the limelight opened its second edition this fashion week. It features an all-female group of designers working in Italy with roots in Togo, Morocco, Haiti, Cuba and India.

It has also created a database of over 3,000 diverse fashion professionals living in Italy. This includes designers, merchandisers, photographers and stylists, to bench the notion that diverse talents aren’t available in Italy.

Gabrielle Union Relaunches Fashion Line

Actress Gabrielle Union on Wednesday announced the relaunch of her namesake fashion line with New York & Company under the Saadia Group, a leader in multi-category product manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing. She returns with her broadest release yet. First launched in 2017, the brand will channel her unique style with each collection.

“We are excited to have Gabrielle Union join the Saadia Group, her brand is the perfect fit for our family of brands. We are excited to offer our product development expertise to relaunch her line bigger than before, with products at New York & Company and a debut at Lord & Taylor,” said Jack Saadia, Principal and Cofounder of The Saadia Group. “Our customers have been asking for the return of her line and we are confident that Gabrielle’s creativity and authentic style will continue to resonate with them.”

The first release of the line is a nod to key staples in Gabrielle Union’s wardrobe. It covers outfits ranging from casual to workwear, date night, and every other outfit in between.

Featuring a colour palette of soft neutrals with subtle pops of colour, the standout pieces include a stunning multi-colour swirl maxi dress, bold sexy knits and matching sets. The newest pieces will introduce denim to her line for the first time.

“It’s great to join the Saadia Group and be back with the New York & Company family, designing my line once again!” said Gabrielle Union. “With every collection I design, I want to ensure the clothing reflects my personality, style and celebrates confidence. The September collection has everything from styles for work, chic and cosy knits and pops of colour for a fun night out.”

BFC Unveils Blueprint for a Circular Fashion Economy

The British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion has launched the Circular Fashion Ecosystem Report. It is a blueprint for a circular fashion economy in the UK to address the industry’s impact on the planet through linear production models and align roles that everyone must play. The report sets out a practical approach to creating a circular fashion economy in the UK.

This will happen by reducing the volume of new physical clothing by 50 per cent, maximising utilisation and revaluation through product circularity, and optimised sorting methods and materials recovery. According to the report, these three actions will allow for a “viable, resilient and prosperous ecosystem”. In addition to this, more jobs will be created in the UK and its carbon footprint will be reduced.

The report also states that the 3 target outcomes are strengthened by 10 priority actions. Ranging from circular design to infrastructure investment, each action is described as equally important and interdependent.

“The UK has all the ingredients needed to create a blueprint for a circular fashion economy that will deliver significant environmental, commercial and societal benefits. The mammoth job at hand to put this into action can be supercharged through a Sustainable Fashion Programme that sees, industry, Government and stakeholders all come to the table to play their part beyond their focus of each individual business,” said Caroline Rush CEO, British Fashion Council. 

“We are already seeing this with our emerging designers. However with large commercial businesses, e-commerce businesses, academia, innovators, funders, logistics providers, waste management and recycling providers and the broader ecosystem coming together with Government, we have an opportunity to create this target state quicker and in doing so creating jobs and skills benefiting the UK as a whole,” she added.

Dapper Dan To Becomes First Black Designer to Receive the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced on Wednesday that Dapper Dan will be awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 CFDA ceremony on November 10. The renowned clothing designer will be the first-ever Black designer to receive the honour.

According to Vogue, in addition to this, he also becomes the first-ever designer to receive the award without hosting a traditional runway show. Previous winners of this award include Rick Owens, Tom Ford, and Vera Wang, amongst others.

“Thank you to the CFDA for making me the first black designer to win this lifetime achievement award,” Dapper Dan wrote on Instagram. “Harnessing the Dapper Dan brand to Gucci, mounted it on a global track, now the whole world knows what Harlem always knew, that the Dapper Dan brand is a thoroughbred brand.”

Dapper Dan, who started his journey in the fashion industry in the 1980s by customising streetwear with DIY-logo prints of major fashion brands for legendary MC’s until legal action was taken against him.

He eventually rose to fame in 2017 after Gucci released a jacket similar to one he had previously designed. In 2018, the luxury fashion house opened an appointment-only atelier for him in Harlem as compensation for the one that was shut down.

Versace and Fendi to Unveil Collab Collection in Secret Fashion Show

Versace and Fendi are reportedly set to showcase a collaboration collection in a secret second show at Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2022. This will happen after both brands have presented their collections on the runway.

Kim Jones, a co-creative director of Fendi, showcased his collection for Fendi earlier this week and Versace is scheduled to debut its SS22 range on the evening of September 24. According to Business of Fashion, the Milanese fashion house “sent out a cryptic gold-and-white ‘save the date’, signed by creative director and former owner Donatella Versace, to a small group of fashion insiders inviting them to a Sunday event.”

This event is not listed on the official schedule of the Milan Fashion Week. BoF also stated that “Donatella has been working with both of LVMH-owned Fendi’s creative directors, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Kim Jones, on a line set to be revealed at the Sunday event”.