Did you know that the way you look, walk and smell allows you to possess some level of authority that creates an infinite boundary for your identity? Would you embrace and leverage it more?
As Africans, our traditional costumes and fabrics that display symbolic patterns and colours are beyond mere clothes or fashion trends. Our fashion as Africans is like a staff of authority; an ambience that announces our presence and celebrates our cultural heritage, history, and values.
Although it was a bit of a struggle for African male fashion designers to successfully integrate African pride into contemporary fashion. But thanks to globalisation and daunting fashion gurus like Izzi Ekhahiemen who have found a way for African men to express their beauty without boundaries.
There’s been a series of criticisms on the survival of African male fashion without the collaboration of Western fabrics. To prove these assertions null and void, Izzy throws his audience into a loop with isolated modern-day African fashion wear that has heads turning and cameras flashing to get a grip of Izzy’s bold and stylish models.
The audience got a first dose of Izzy’s confidence with a maroon senator short-sleeve up-and-down outfit that reminds the world of Mother Earth. This easy-to-wear masterpiece is an inspiration drawn from the flexibility that African fashion has created for the corporate world.
Talk about the weather and occasion, this comfortable outfit is perfect for a 21st-century man who wants to look simple yet stylish and classic. To give this look a notch, Izzy spiced up this look with large African coral neck beads that fit like a choker and dark sunglasses to finish it.
Perhaps the audience was expecting black or brown Italian shoes to match but Izzy said ‘NO. Take a look at these thick leather striped and laced shoes. Who says you can’t wear a senator with sneakers-look-alike or laced shoes? Gone are the days when men limited their fashion creativity because of the things they thought they didn’t have to complement their looks. With this look, Izzy tells his audience to keep it smart and stylish.
Izzy’s second choice was a two-piece long-sleeve turquoise blue senator outfit ─ a perfect caption for ‘He ‘blue’ his audience’s mind away’.
Izzy’s inspiration for this is the colour that speaks tranquillity, calmness and peace. The traditional kaftan look is also a reminder that Africans are party butterflies. Be it a friend’s child christening, wedding ceremony, or religious service, this look tells a lot about your personality for a simple and soft life.
For Izzy, a well-to-do man doesn’t make a loud noise to introduce himself to every Tom, Dick and Harry at the event; his attire does that for him. Going by the choice of fabrics ─ Senator is a fashion inspiration drawn from the South-Eastern and the Niger Delta regions of Nigeria and just as the name implies, it is a choice of clothing for Nigerian senators and influential men in society.
The dark sunglasses, navy blue rubber wristwatch and brown leather half-loafers are testaments that the status of an African man is not hidden in the way he looks.
Just as the culture of an African man is ageless, so is his identity. While conventional looks tend to limit the fashion creativity of a contemporary African man, Izzy has rewritten the narrative with his scissors and tape, hence, giving every African man a chance to explore his limitless beauty.
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