Ghana’s finally making it’s big debut on the South African stage at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Johannesburg spring showcase. It’s entry is fortuitous, it is part of the cache of designers invited under the umbrella of the Couture D’Afrique showcase, invited to show the breadth of African design. But Mina Evans is actually a very established brand in it’s home country of Ghana, with several years and collections in it’s portfolio. In a way the opportunity to showcase at #MBFWJ16, was a rare opportunity for the label to reinvent itself.
And that it does, but not in the way you would expect.
Launched in Ghana in 2010 by Mina Evans-Anfom, a graduate of the London Centre for Fashion Studies under Northumbria School of Design, Anfom built an international following for the brand around her use of prints and figure flattering silhouettes. The Spring 2017 collection references elements from the label’s most successful collections, it’s distinct mix of sapphire and purple prints from it’s Spring 2011 collection ‘Terra Firma’, silhouettes from it’s Spring 2012 collection ‘Finura’ and ethereal fabrics from its Spring ’13 collection ‘Twisted Romance’. It takes all these elements and reworks them through the lens of this season’s trends; high waisted, wide-leg pants, soft silhouettes, geometric prints.
What is different this season is fringe. Mina Evans, normally abhorrent of embellishment whole heartedly embraces fringe, working its skirting out of strips of tulle, each piece individually sewn on to the finished pieces. This brings a sense of drama that Mina Evans has never had, the Mina Evans woman this season is the star of the show, not a supporting, she is the bride not the wedding guest. In addition to the label’s signature contrast striping, this change of design aesthetic signifies a new page for the label, and hopefully a new kind of wearer.
PHOTO CREDITS:
Simon Deiner/SDR Photo
