Okoro Emmanuel’s Emmy Kasbit is one the few emerging labels that has decisively tackled both menswear and womenswear in it’s collection. It has also championed a number of trends, albeit sometimes awkwardly, it was one of the first Nigerian labels to dive headfirst into the skrouser tuxedo trend and their last collection of evening wear inspired pieces gave us the gorgeous tuxedo dress that became a TV starlet favorite, worn by everyone from Zainab Balogun, to Jane Michael Ekanem to Bolanle Olukanni.
The Disturbia collection is meant to be a distraction. It is generally inspired by certain elements of nature that can cause distraction. The collection talks about a world where your outfit is a distraction and the only thing people want to see are the cuts and wavy shape that goes with your movement as you walk….
This press statement caused us no shortage of embarrassment. It rambled on and on without actually giving us anything about the designer’s muses and inspiration for this collection. This alone gave us strong doubts about this collection. If the designer’s team cannot articulate the inner workings of his new work, how are we supposed to get it?
For a collection inspired by organized chaos and distraction, this collection is placid. In fact, there is little to differentiate this collection from Okoro’s last collection. He tones down the bright colours of the last collection, ditches the skrousers (they were incredibly unflattering anyways) and does womenswear that is very different from the menswear this season. But other than that, this collection is decidedly lacklustre.
Okoro gives us a conveyor belt of repetitive day suits; cinched at the waist, paired with shorts and belted in a way that gives the impression that the model is constipated. Where is the chaos, the distraction, the deconstructed pieces that subvert classic shapes and silhouettes (which is what we think he means by drivel such as, ”the only thing people want to see are the cuts and wavy shape that goes with your movement as you walk‘). Instead all we get by way of rebellious silhouette is a tartan blazer with one asymmetric hem.
The womenswear pieces are outright disappointing. It’s hard to believe the designer who made these gauche flared pants and jumpsuits is the same one who made the elegant tuxedo dresses. We were hard pressed to think of any woman who would deliberately glimpse either of the flared pants and put herself in them.
McQueen, Wang and Galliano are masters in the art of irreverent fashion and if this collection is anything to go by, Emmy Kasbit has got a quite a bit to go before it can earn that term.
Credits
Designer: Okoro Emmanuel ( @Emmykasbit, @Theemmykasbit )
Creative Direction: Victor Kwen Akomaye (@mannikwen)
Photographer : Tope Adenola (@tope_horpload)
Make Up Artist: Uche Enyokw (@sutchay)
Models: Joyce Ngozi Chidebe and Chinedu Johnson