She rocks in Arnreuby

Men's style blazer and skinny sloanstar pants

I recently assisted a friend of mine on a test shoot. We shot in studio with a great team, which made the whole process very easy. The model was great to work with and looked great in all the outfits. A lot of the clothes used on the shoot were from my winter collection for Arnreuby. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. The accessories are also from the collection. I thinks she rocks in Arnreuby.

Inspired

On the runway

The Ncheka Dress

This must be one of my favourite dresses in my collection at the moment. Even though picking a favourite piece is like asking a mother to choose her favourite child in the bunch. This dress was inspired by part of my Tsonga tradition. I was shocked that there are not many pictures of Tsonga women in their traditional dress on the web. I really would have loved to show you where the inspiration comes from for this dress. But anyway I will do my best to explain. The name "Ncheka" is a name given to colourful or embroidered fabric that Tsonga women wear over their tradition skirt called a "Xibelani". These fabrics are normally brightly coloured with a print or just plain with hand embroidery. Two ncheka's ( plural is "micheka") are worn at a time. They are square pieces of material draped across the body and tired at the shoulders over a plain t-shirt over a "xibelani" or sometimes called a "ndindani". I loved the shape that the fabrics make as they cross in the front and as they drape on the body. I translated this in jersey to create a contemporary piece that pays homage to traditional dress without being too much of a costume. I will try and get some Tsonga women in traditional dress so you can see the translation of inspiration to contemporary fashion.

I showed a black, short sexy version of this dress in Nigeria for the BNC celebrations. A little studded belt and leggings gave the dress a rock chick appeal.

Arnreuby on the runway

In October '09 I showed the first seasons collection from the Arnreuby line. Had great models. In the picture is Naomi King looking very strong in one of the outfits in the transitional colour palette of chocolate brown, beige highlighted with siren red. See the Nora skirt below. This fashion moment was captured by Jan Hendrik at SA fashion week regional shows in Cape Town.

My clothes

Rocksy Bustier


Printed Puff skirt

Nora Skirt


Ncheka Dress

Like I said, I'm a designer when I'm not blogging. This is one of the things that brings me great satisfaction. 2009 saw the return of my clothing line ARNREUBY. Yes, I decided to reach into the top shelf reclaim my passion. I dusted off the dust from what had become a box of dreams that had been stored away in pursuit of something elusive called "stability". Now I look back and wonder "WHYDIDIDOTHAT?". If you're wondering so whatdidieverdowithout my passion and dreams? It is feels good to be finally be doing what I love again, which is designing. These are some of the things are in my line.

The first entry

Well this sure feels comfortable. I cannot think of a reason why I didn't start doing this earlier. I mean blogging is not a new thing and I have heard many people talk about it, so why haven't I tried till now beats me. So I ask myself the fundamental question, "WHATDIDIDOWITHOUT BLOGGING? Well I can give a whole host of answers to that question that range from being just plain lazy to letting to many things clutter my life that I felt that was not even enough hours in the day to fit it, to insecurities like "what if no one reads my blog, what if they hate my blog then they'll judge me." Yes that annoying little voice inside my head. I've just given it one of those 'Mama backhand slaps' and told to shut up while I write.

So welcome to my world and I hope you'll enjoy the fun. I look forward to sharing with you all the things that I think are just grand which let me to ask the fundamental question "whatdididowithout...?". These will range from trivial little things to some major things that have revolutionized my world tha i cannot imagine life without these things.