I was missioning backstage when I bumped into Deon Redman who said to me: “Have you seen Aamito, you know who that is right? When I see her I will introduce you.” I was not privy to the details as to which designer flew in Aamito in Joburg to walk for them, one thing I am certain about is that you do not simply fly in a model of Aamito’s calibre without having access to big bucks. I later bumped into Aamito a little later on whilst she was rushing to makeup. Wearing a tuxedo jacket in black shimmering metallic fabrication and acid pink lapel. Her pants were form-fitting in super ornate floral intricate beading work. The look was styled with a chiffon top underneath beaded to spell out Fabiani at the bottom and the fashion brand’s emblem in the centre of her torso.
Gautier spared no bead and excessively lush fabrication.
If you were hoping to sport hunky men wearing little to nothing leuwks, alternated by sharp colourful suits in between as one has come to expect from the Fabiani as per their previous fashion shows. The 40 years old fashion house the broken this season. The show was opened by a powerful walk delivered by Africa’s Next Top Model first winner, Aamito Lagum, who walked exclusively for Fabiani at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Joburg 2017. Aamito is a Ugandan-born 24 years old model who has gone to make a name for herself and conquered various international fashion weeks and the “never done before by a black girl.” Elle Uk reports that Aamito “was the first black model to open Balecianga under Alexander Wang’s direction and has featured in an all-star Marc Jacobs campaign.”
Aamito was the model with the beautiful lips that sparked hatred towards blackness.
Aamito is currently based in New York City and has gone to cover various magazine covers and appear in high fashion editorials among other noteworthy modelling career projects. She is presently the cover star of the September issue of Elle Belgium, which is a pretty big deal because as you may know, The September Issue is the Christmas of fashion magazine issues. That fashion magazine’s avid readers also look forward annually to seeing the “seasons’ IT items” and the debut of fashion campaigns. Remember that Mac Cosmetics’ Instagram lippie post showcasing the model’s lipstick for a New York Fashion Week show that stirred racial drama because of the model’s black plump and beautiful lips? Aamito was the model with beautiful lips that sparked hatred towards blackness.
“sex couture high voltage bitch”
Aamito was not the only shining star of Fabiani’s SS17 collection, the designer fashion brand collaborated with the fashion designer, Warrick Gautier to creatively direct their debut of Fabiani womenswear. Gautier spared no bead and excessively lush fabrication. There was new menswear suiting in royal blue, black and gold. Some of the suit looks were styled sans shirts underneath (sidebar: when I was backstage and saw the models with suits sans shirts and scarves, I do not get the styling vibe) instead the designer used overlapping floral silk scarves instead, which I think was clever and beautiful. For womenswear, Gautier introduced highly beaded dresses and suiting with luxurious brocade, jacquard fabrics, silk chiffons beading, and embroidery. Gautier’s graphic, tailored and feminine aesthetic is said to have been “inspired by powerful women and their appreciation for couture, art, music and theatre.” The Fabiani womenswear collection will be launched in their flagship stores on 19 October 2017. It will be interesting to see if they will tone down the collection for the retailers and commercial viability reasons. Or if it will still be “sex couture high voltage bitch” as the model attitude amping card exclaimed backstage.