LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Jan

25

2021

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

The Mayhem that is Drake’s CLB and Kanye West’s Donda

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO Donda, Donda, Donda. I love you, i love you, i love you, until I — Two very different introductions belonging to two of hip-hop's biggest names; setting the tone for two very different moods. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m talking about the week-apart releases of Kanye West’s DONDA, and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. If there were artists akin to a holy grail, these two would come extremely close and with good reasons. They are the wordsmiths part of a generation that has continued to shift cultural views on music, fashion and art. The Donda album (left)…

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…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

The library club: taking African storytelling mainstream

LITERATURE

LERATO MOGOATLHE, BIRD NUMBER 4 Portuphy Street in West Legon, Accra, Ghana may look like an ordinary house in the suburb - until you step inside. Crossing the threshold, the one-storey building morphs into a living, breathing vault of stories alive with the potential to transcend the very boundaries of history, geography, and time. This is the embodiment of one woman's passion and a dream so big, it spans the whole world. Welcome to Syliva Arthur's Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD), where even the walls offer a history lesson. Pictures of authors like Kwame Nkrumah, Toni Morrison,…

Jan

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Jonas Gwangwa embodied South Africa’s struggle for a national culture

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MUSIC is not a zero-sum game with only one ‘best’. But if you seek to name one musician whose life embodies the South African people’s struggle for a national culture, it must be trombonist, composer and cultural activist Jonas Mosa Gwangwa, who was born on 19 October 1937 in Orlando East, Johannesburg, and died on 23 January 2021 in Johannesburg aged 83. GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria Through 65 years on stage, Gwangwa’s playing contributed to every genre of South African jazz. Overseas, he was hailed as player, producer and composer. Yet…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

S.African animator fuses cartoon with reality in satellite debut

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SELF-TAUGHT South African 3D animator Lwazi Msipha wanted to create something for both grown-ups and kids, along the lines of The Simpsons, when he dreamed up the character that won him a coveted slot on satellite TV. So he hit on an idea: what if his children's cartoon character were to accidentally get stuck in the adult real world? That notion forms the premise of 'My Cartoon Friend', which debuted on Cartoon Network in South Africa last month - the first of his compatriots to get a full 13-episode series. In the new show, Msipha plays himself as a young…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

In a surprise move, Britney Spears’ father asks for conservatorship to end

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

LISA RICHWINE JAMIE Spears, the father of Britney Spears, on Tuesday, asked a Los Angeles court to end the pop singer's 13-year conservatorship, saying circumstances have changed in recent months. In an unexpected development, Jamie Spears, who in 2008 set up the court-sanctioned arrangement that governs the singer's personal and business affairs, said in a court filing that he believed the judge should "now seriously consider whether this conservatorship is no longer required." "If Ms Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr Spears believes she should get that chance," read the…

Jan

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Latin singer Maluma features on Elle as its first male cover star

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO COLOMBIAN singing maestro Maluma has made an iconic feat early in 2021, by becoming the first-ever male star to cover the fashion magazine. Maluma is the star of Elle’s February print edition. He shared his achievement on Instagram this week, writing that his cover feature is a hopeful message to “keep dreaming and achieving”. “IT'S MALUMA BABY!!!!! Thank u @elleusa for making me the first male on the cover of the magazine, this means a lottttt to me!” Maluma on the cover of Elle. Picture: Instagram Donned in a blue shirt and posed with his left arm outstretched,…

Sep

07

2021

By The African Mirror

‘The Wire’ actor Michael K. Williams found dead in apartment

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

TIM REID MICHAEL K. Williams, who played the character Omar Little in the TV series "The Wire," was found dead in his New York apartment on Monday, the New York Police Department said. He was 54. Lieutenant John Gimpel, an NYPD spokesman, said Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment after a 2 p.m. (1800 GMT)emergency phone call to emergency operators. Williams, who received a 2021 Emmy nomination for his performance in HBO's Lovecraft Country, also found fame for his role in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. The NYPD said there was an "ongoing investigation" into Williams's death and…

Sep

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Cardi B and offset welcome baby no. 2!

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER CARDI B has given birth to her second child, and Offset’s fifth. The hip-hop couple announced on Instagram that they had become parents to a son, making Cardi’s first child Kulture, a big sister. Simply captioned as “9/4/21," Cardi B is seen sitting in a hospital bed cradling her baby boy , wrapped in a blue blanket and wearing a blue knit hat, with husband Offset dressed in blue seated next to her. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib) "We are so overjoyed to finally meet our son," the couple wrote…