Amede Nzeribe is one of the few Nigerian designers who bears strong design similarities to Italian powerhouse, Pucci. Both brands are started from the ground up, and both brands have always stayed away from the trend race and focused exclusively on prints. Emilio is known for his high colour prints, Nzeribe is known for her sometimes psychedelic tie-dye.
First debuted at last year’s Lagos Fashion and Design Week, Amede’s new collection, the first since her Spring 2015 collection is hard to place yet oddly familiar. She changes her roster of colours, this collection is much brighter than the last with brightly hued red spots mottling the landscape of a washed out yellow maxi dress.
She changes the motifs this season too, shedding the high concept prints of last year for a more abstract approach. But other than that, the collection merely takes the silhouettes from last season and only slightly revamps them. There is some effort in this new collection; pantsuits stylishly cut show the kind of dexterity Nzeribe is capable of when she puts her mind to it, and Amede takes the wide leg pant trend that has inundated female fashion in 2o15 for a spin, and surprise, it pairs quite well with the label’s new star burst motif. But other than that, the cuts are lazy and repetitive.
This new collection is interesting but only just. Nzeribe seems to lean too heavily on the complexity of her fabric choices as a suitable excuse to forgo innovation. And that is already coming to haunt her. The clothes are the wrong kind of familiar, like rummaging through a hoarders wardrobe. Spinning the colour wheel doesn’t invalidate the need for freshness, even Emilio Pucci who as at 2010 was worth over 500 million dollars realized this eventually.
Amede’s collections so far have given the impression that the label merely works several ideas into a single collection and casts its net wide, they are coming very close to stretching the idea of tie-dye from practical to absurd. With a literal canvas of fabric and the reputation behind it, maybe it’s time for Nzeribe to give us a collection that explicitly explores a single theme, a collection that says something instead of suggesting everything.
Photo Credit
Photography: Kola Oshalusi (Instagram: @KolaOshalusi)
Model: Idia Aisien (Instagram: @DoctorIdia)
Makeup: Bukekayo by Modu (Instagram: @BukekayobyModu)
Shoot Direction: Rhoda Ebun (Instagram: @RhodaEbun)
To find out more on Amede, send an e-mail to: [email protected] | Follow them on Instagram: @AmedeOnline | Follow them on Twitter: @AmedeOnline | Call: 07056892161 | Visit their website: www.amedeonline.com | Visit their Stockists: Poosh Boutique | Grey Velvet