Ghanaian label Bushai Weave showed on the last day of the Kumasi Fashion Week and was one of the labels that showed a predominantly menswear collection.
The collection is built around the cropped tunic, a look that has been adopted across West Africa as a traditional menswear style preferred for formal outings in place of western formal wear. Bushai Weave puts it’s spin on this, sending out pieces that are heavily embroidered, par the course for traditional menswear looks in West Africa.
The label also experiments with panelling, placing strategic panels of alternate fabric to draw attention to the decollete and hems of the tunics, all sadly very derivative of what is common in West African menswear.
There are also a smattering of womenswear pieces that mirror the details in the menswear pieces, a move so unexpected, it proves distracting rather than complementary. The formulaic clothes could be overlooked if the other aspects of the collection were superb. But they aren’t, the construction on the pieces are sup-bar and the tailoring, average at best.
As a design label showing at a major fashion week, innovation is expected, and if that cannot be had, then superior construction should at least be guaranteed. This is the least we expect from design labels.
Photo Credit: Chasquido Studios.
