African Designers Part 1 - Fashion Project

My fashion project is about showcasing different creations made by African Designers. The way this works is that I borrow pieces from a selected designer's collection and organize my own photoshoot with a fashion photographer. I then display these designs online through my social networking sites, websites and blogs like this one. By doing this, I am giving a platform for both the model (me ofcourse) and the designer to showcase what they can do internationally.

Below are two outfits designed by Brenda Maraka from Uganda, photographed by Giulio Molfese.

Miss Tourism TESO 2014

Growing up, my childhood dream was to be a part of a Beauty Pageant. So when the opportunity to join Miss Tourism TESO 2014 contest came up, I went for it. I was 26 at this time. Although the oldest of the contestants, I looked the youngest. I loved the looks people got on their faces whenever I introduced myself as having a Masters degree, running two start up businesses and conducting a fashion project showcasing African fashion online. I appeared to have wowed the judges however because of my petite height of 5ft 4inc, I didn't make it as a finalist in the  competition. Needless to say, I had an awesome time, I got to inspire young ladies out there and I fulfilled my dream.

Urban Portrait with Najma Hush

Art

I met photographer Najma Hush from Birmingham at a Positive Vibes Crew party which was hosted by our mutual friend, Donald Hayden, an upcoming reggae artist at his home in London.
Najma sat close to me and complimented me on having a beautiful face. I smiled and thanked her kindly.
I later went downstairs to have some fun and dance to some reggae bits. Little did I know thar Najma had been looking for me to take my picture. When she finally found me along the staircase, she grabbed her camera to take a shot. I posed normally but she asked me to do something crazy. Above is the result of my impromptu photoshoot with one of Birmingham's photographers in the heart of London.

Test shoot UK

It all started in 2012, with an invitation to attend a photoshoot at Blue Rooms Studio from UK Models.UK Models posted an ad on facebook which kept popping on my wall for several months. I ignored it for sometime until one cold autumn night, when I was researching for my MSc dissertation, I decided to submit a polaroid photo which I had taken at an Enactus UK training workshop. Two weeks later, I received a phone call while attending at a senior management meeting for Oxford Brookes University where I was a Student Union Representative for my faculty at that time. The gentleman on the other side said that I had alot of potential and that I had a nice face frame and then asked me if I could make it to London for a photoshoot. I agreed. 100 photos, 5 hours and 5 outfits later, I became a model.