As one of the labels who showed a much larger collection, Ghanaian emerging label, Hall Of Peters reflects many of the trends we’ve seen come out of Kumasi Fashion Week; a preference for asymmetry, heavy ruching and an appreciation of African inspired wax fabric.
But that is the extent that the label mirrors the other labels showing at Kumasi Fashion Week’s first outing under the name (It used to be the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Fashion Week). Instead of evening wear or high concept fashion, Hall Of Peters chooses instead to tackle fashion from an afro-bohemian aesthetic.
Head wraps and turbans mottle the runway, alternately contrasting or complementing the looks they accompany. Gathered skirts with layers of ruched chiffon pour out from an asymmetrically hemmed Kente print dress. A slanted ruched hem reappears on the runway, first in satin and then in red lace. The skirts are almost always short, and when they aren’t, they sweep the floor.
The collection is edged with a handful of menswear tunics, that seem so alien to the rest of the collection, it distracts from instead of unifying the collection. It could be in part because the designer didn’t bother to make matching pants for the tunics, or the fact that the designs seem like one-0ffs instead of a collective whole. Whatever it is, it derails an otherwise interesting collection.
Sometimes resisting the urge to diversify into other lines in the same collection could be just as beneficial as trying to cover to several markets.
Photo Credit: Chasquido Studios.
Asymmetry, lace and satin with Ankara fabric, ruched necklines, decolette, headwraps and turbans, a very bohemian woman
Ruched dress, full skirts, flared hem. s