BEAUTY AND FASHION - The African Mirror

Dec

11

2020

South Sudanese model Aweng Ade-Chuol and wife embrace on Elle UK’s December cover issue

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO THE British branch of Elle magazine has gone with the theme of love for the magazine’s final issue of 2020, featuring model couple Aweng Ade-Chuol and her wife Alexus. The South Sudanese-born supermodel and her wife got married in New York City in December 2019 in an intimate civil ceremony, which she posted as her coming out as part of the LGBT+ community. When she posted the cover on Instagram, she posted it with the caption, “And to women who love women, who never realised that soul ties have been called by the ocean tides, love is as…

Sep

15

2021

By The African Mirror

MET Gala 2021 presents: the dazzling and the bland

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO AFTER a year break due to the covid-19 pandemic, the MET Gala, society’s most anticipated social fashion event of the year, returned to New York’s Metropolitan Museum with one of their most ambiguous themes yet - ‘In America: A Lexicon of Fashion Part 1’. The 2021 edition of the gala evening was met with a mixture of haute dressed-to-the-nines; social-cultural movement themes; old Hollywood glamour. There were reimaginings of iconic American imagery, old Hollywood glamour and reimaginings of iconic American imagery like the Wild West. There were also risque barely-there looks; underwhelming and absent faces with whom fans…

Jan

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Louis Vuitton’s show goes film noir for men’s fashion week

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO MEN’S fashion week has begun across Paris, New York, London and Milan; in a format that is odd to the fashion industry but has quickly become a casual sight due to the covid pandemic. The now-mostly virtual shows by fashion week organisations have allowed creative directors free reign on how they wish to display their upcoming collections for the autumn/winter campaign. Virgil Abloh’s anticipated collection for Louis Vuitton’s (LV) autumn/winter ready-to-wear collection took artistic inspiration from the vintage age of noir films, creating heavily-tailored looks with exaggerated fedora hats, oxford shoes and tailored suits in subdued earth tones…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Taking jewellery up-market

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MANDY KANYEMBA AN MBA is not needed to become a jeweller. But it may prove useful. When Bridget Mudota left her office job in 2019 to venture into jewellery design, the reaction was considerable. Here was a highly qualified individual with a Masters in Business Administration, "giving it all up" to venture into a trade that in many parts of Africa is associated with handicrafts and roadside stalls. However, Mudota was determined. She wanted something else from life. “The beauty of this art is that it is therapeutic as it takes one’s mind away from the worries of life and…

Jan

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Supermodel Halima Aden exits the fashion world

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO FASHION model Halima Aden has quit modelling and the fashion industry after realising that she felt “zero excitement” overseeing her face on magazine covers and felt as if she was losing her identity as a Muslim woman. Aden left the fashion world at the end of 2020 because she found it difficult to “see herself” on the covers of fashion magazines and felt that fashion was never for her. "I had zero excitement because I couldn't see myself. Do you know how mentally damaging that can be to be to somebody? When I'm supposed to feel happy and…

Jan

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Cyberbullying of Miss SA condemned

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO THE Miss South Africa organisation has condemned the personal attacks and bullying against the current holder Shudufhadzo Musida, who had been insulted and accused of “wasting time” on her photoshoots by social media users instead of focusing on more important things like her duties as Miss South Africa. The reigning pageant queen had posted an image of herself in a bikini swimsuit and bucket hat by the poolside. While there was an outpour of compliments for Musida, there were some Twitter users who saw her photoset as the Limpopo-native lacking on her duties as Miss SA. Miss SA…

Feb

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Beyoncé preps fans for #IcyPark

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO MONTHS after dropping the second collection with Adidas for Ivy Park, R&B singer Beyoncé is back with more, thrilling fans with shots of her upcoming third drop with Adidas. Beyoncé’s athleisure brand teased their third drop, titled #IcyPark, by taking fans to the snow slopes with a collection inspired by winter wear, featuring the faces of model Hailey Bieber, rapper Gucci Mane, and fellow R&B singer Kaash Paige. The brand posted a teaser video on Instagram showing a collection of sneakers, logo-adorned faux-fur coats, and reflective jackets all against a gorgeous backdrop of snow-capped, wintry mountaintops that resembled…

Aug

05

2021

By The African Mirror

See the top 10 Miss South Africa finalists

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO MISS South Africa will crown their new queen after Shudufhadzo Musida’s covid-19 interrupted reign comes to an end. The pageant announced their top 10 contestants vying for the prestigious title and crown, which will be crowned in Cape Town’s Grand West Arena. The top 3 winners from the group will also represent the country on three international pageant stages: Miss World; Miss Supranational and Miss Universe. This year’s judging panel consisted of four former beauty queens: Melinda Bam (Miss SA 2011), Bokang Montjane-Tshabalala (Miss SA 2010); Tamryn Green (Miss SA 2018) and Liesl Laurie (Miss SA 2015). The…

Feb

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Rising star Blue Ivy Carter steals show

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO BLUE Ivy Carter has stolen the spotlight from her mother Beyoncé. Ahead of the near release of Beyoncé’s third collection with Adidas, nine-year-old Blue Ivy appeared in one of Ivy Park’s latest video campaign for her mother’s #icypark collection - a capsule of looks inspired by the icy winter slopes of the northern hemisphere. Blue Ivy appeared alongside her mother in two outfits, the print outer jacket and sweats and dancing and swinging her silk pressed hair in a printed brown cropped jacket with brown faux leather pants and trainers while wearing a mask. Blue Ivy and rapper…

Feb

18

2021

By The African Mirror

Angelina Jolie covers March edition of Vogue UK

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO ANGELINA Jolie graces the covers of British Vogue in an effortless manner, ageing finely as she posed in a Dior trench coat with one of her scripts in her hand during a photo shoot that was done at her Los Angeles home. Jolie is posed on two covers shot by Craig McDean, wearing a Max Mara trench coat and skirt with Ralph Lauren shoes on the first, and wearing matching black turtleneck and pants with ballet flats while surrounded by her dogs on the second cover. Angelina Jolie’s first cover. Picture: Instagram/Vogueuk Styled and interviewed by the magazine's…