Development Blogs.com

Nyakio Kamoche Grieco founder of Nyakio covered earlier launches Safi her perfume line. In an interview with LadyBrille she states: Safi carries base notes that represent Africa including bamboo, papyrus, and muhuhu wood. At the heart you find fresh cut freesia, stargazer lily, and neroli (orange blossom), and at the top rests fresh pineapple, black currant and fresh lychee, notes that I've...

Carpetblogger loves to shop and we love a challenge! We are here to announce our discovery of an on-line store we've discovered that has everything for the fashionable AND modest woman!And, for the woman who is neither but has to go to Saudi Arabia. Like all business travel, this trip presents wardrobe-related logistical challenges for girls. To start with, it's not just Saudi, but includes Pakistan and Yemen as well. Both have slightly differing standards of female modesty. Second, it's August, which means it will be 150 degrees and humid in seaside Jedd-ah and tail end of monsoon in Islamabad. Sana'a sits at 7500 feet. The only way this trip could suck more is if it fell in September, which is Ramadan, and included a visit to Kabul. (Vigilant ancestors will be pleased to know the...

Meridian Medical Services fashions itself as the "One stop" medical centre. Kahindo Mateene a fashion designer "sews together tradition and trend" SMS based Livestock Marketing Information System launched for farmers and traders. Combination Industries serves up cheese snacks. African minerals strengthens its social...

Founded by Hekima Hapa and Ngozi Odita, Harriets Alter Ego "...boutique serves as a fashion hub for those who understand the fine art of style. In their new location, clothing is displayed as art against a beckoning backdrop of exposed brick, grounded by hardwood floors. What began as a den for deconstructed clothing has evolved into a boutique catering to the whole...

Founded by Carol Muthiga Kipepeo "...embodies the notion of freedom and freedom of expression through fashion...a true labor of love,it has evolved to include tees and tops, hats, bags, denim wear,jewelry and...

Singer Songwriter,TED Global performer Abenaa Frempong-Boadu , reveals another one of her hats with the launch of Gwyneth Shoes a company in which she is a co-founder: Gwyneth is a line of sophisticated, comfortable shoes for real women. At Gwyneth we believe that we should not have to compromise fashion for comfort. Our patented sock cushions and flexible soles on every shoe make sure that we...

"...Ndem Maam Samba, a seventeen-year-old company founded by Ndem’s spiritual leader, Babacar Mbow, is situated in the arid landscape of the Baol region, 75 miles outside of Dakar. The community employs 365 people and is focused on creating clothing and home décor from ancient African weaving and dyeing techniques married with contemporary tailoring...",Aid to Artisans. For further coverage see...

Continuing our focus on the growing diasporan fashion industry, we take a look at Mary Shittu, the proprietor of Makushi Jeans and her own couture...

The West African Fashion industry continues to broaden,"...Barcelagos Clothing Co. is a Nigerian t-shirt company whose aim is to bring identity to the millions of Nigerian youths living abroad. Through our culturally-specific t-shirts we connect young Nigerians to home and give them a sense of belonging by allowing them, wherever in the world they may be to express themselves with pride Our...

Bella Naija who started her blog to amongst other things, "celebrate young Nigerian women who are doing fabulous things and in turn encourage others to pursue their ambitions." Profiles Leila Fowler a Lagos boutique store: Leila Fowler is what I like to call a 'fashion destination’, a boutique clothing and jewellery retailer based in Lagos. From the twinkling lights that adorn the ceiling to the...

"...Aissa Dione Tissus has been in business for fifteen years, creating contemporary interpretations of traditional Mandjaque handweaving for her two stores in Dakar, Atiss Galerie (furniture and home furnishings)and Atiss Boutique (fashion), as well as for the high-end export market in New York, Paris, Italy and South Africa...There are over fifty full time employees and a number of village...

Made of Stone: a lion in Oxfordshire There always seems to be a degree of unseemly disorder and crush around the boarding gate for the flight to Kinshasa, whether in Brussels, Paris or Nairobi. Perhaps it’s a hangover from the not too distant days of lax hand luggage rules, which led to urgent competition for space to stow all those TVs, fridges and bags of vegetables. Or it could be an expression of distrust in the reliability of airlines such as Brussels Airlines (formerly known as SN Brussels, and before that Sabena) and Kenya Airways, not to mention the Congolese domestic airlines, most of which have been banned from international routes. Otherwise, I don’t know what the rush is about. In our case, we were delayed by an hour (once everyone was onboard) so some vital part...

Founded by Nwanua Elumeze covered earlier, Aniomagic is a company that blends fashion with computer science. Products include "washable, interactive clothing." Their Collaire accessory, "...comes with six lights that blink in cool patterns. The more you rub your pet, the faster the lights flash! If you leave it alone for a while, the collaires automatically turn off, until you rub them again....

Dorothy Duncan founded by Dorothy Ghettuba and Mandy Duncan carries pieces by independent fashion designers from various parts of the world. A recent Evan Carmichael profile stated that: Both co-founders (Mandy Duncan and Dorothy Ghettuba) wanted to work together and a year ago they decided to do so. The company has been in full operation for 5 months. The company has grown from simply being an...

FunAfric is "...an internet based music vending and Entertainment Company. Its core business objective is the provision of a platform for distributing a wide range of music forms and movies, mainly of the African genre, over the Internet, in a digital format. It will also provide entertainment news, information and sales of memorabilia and other such items..." via...

Some of the impressive eyewear featured in the video below A video has surfaced of Madilu System’s amazing funeral, the biggest in years. After some reverent ogling of the open-top casket, you can see some impressive crowd scenes, the arrival of various local dignitaries and pop stars and some impromptu singing. They say a blog should have a niche. Seeing as it’s standing room only in the design and technology departments, I’m making a bid for funerals in Kinshasa....

And it's getting cooler. That means the skirts don't get longer but the boots get taller. If you're not familiar with the principles of devushka fashion, you'd better read up first. We're in a shoulder season here in Kyiv. It's still too warm for cropped puffy jackets and pink fake rabbit fur, and black wool coats trimmed with dog fur are still a month or two away. Stiletto sandals are out, but stiletto boots are in, in, in. Tampon-string skirts are never out of fashion, nor are camel toe jeans.  Be sure to accessorize liberally -- winter, spring, summer or fall -- with sequins, crystals, rhinestones, fishnets, brass studs and superfluous buckles! Let's take a look at what's hot on the streets of Kyiv this season. While her tampon string was not visible, the tops of her...

Mass Customization profiles Uche Okonkwo founder of Luxe, E.t.c. a Strategy & Management Consultancy that specializes in the luxury industry.: Her new book, "Luxury Fashion Branding", addresses the business of luxury fashion from a strategic viewpoint through tracing the origins of luxury fashion, assessing its consumer behaviour, retailing tactics, branding and marketing strategies, ebusiness,...

AfricanColours seeks to "...provide news and other information for artists,art collectors,gallery owners,academics and the general public;change the perception of the majority of Africans of the role and value of art..." via Business...

Roll up, roll up! Mundele visits tailor’s workshop! Expats who venture beyond their habitual haunts tend to attract a lot of attention. Yesterday I visited a tailor (couturieur) whose workshop is a converted shipping container with chipboard walls decorated with myriad chalked measurements and an array of colourful bolts of cloth. Within minutes, the place was full of curious onlookers who took turns to interview me on all aspects of my life. This sort of thing can be bothersome for those who prefer to be left alone, but it’s much more fun for everyone if you play along and engage in a bit of repartee....

Harold Otabil, stated that "...that most people in Ghana and the developing countries are not using their human faculty in maximizing productivity ..." The company he founded- Hords - manufactures products which include: 1. Food and beverage 2. Cleaning and detergents 3....

Frederic Garlan reports on the Madagascan Orchid industry: Angraecum eburneum longicalcar had all but disappeared from its natural habitat when much of its forest home was destroyed, but for this project will be grown commercially in partnership with Madagascar farmers, and then exported to France. "These orchids can be grown for use as either cut flowers or for their cosmetic value," said Alban...

Nulangee "...produces the most improbable shapes with extraordinary personality and character. Using non- traditional techniques like sculptured horn, braided iron, sewn wood and molded leather, Babacar creates furniture pieces which are functional, unique and beautiful organic art forms...",Design...

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Our friend Wu Wei posts about the woes of a British store that didn't check the online translator before buying a bunch of T-shirts that said "We Will Cleanse Russia of All Non-Russians," a more typical yet less benign slogan than "Be Proud of Russia," which is what they thought the shirts said. I have acquired some fun t-shirts too. For the most part I know what they say. I got this one from our local Ukrainian nationalist bookstore in Kyiv. The faces are Leonid Kravchuk (1991-1994), Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) and Viktor Yushchenko (2005- present). It says "All Presidents Are The Same." In many ways this is true. However, only one President was poisoned with dioxin. This is one of the world's most recognizable brands: Hezbollah. Not sure...

If you want objective, clinical data, you can rely, like everyone one else, on the calendar. Alternatively, if you place no faith in such tools of oppression employed by The Man, the changing of the leaves and snow flurries can also give you broad outline of the path the earth is taking around the sun.But Ukraine is a complicated place. There's a lot going on beneath the surface, undetectable to the untrained eye. Monkeys in Kyiv could identify its four seasons without a problem: the day ice starts to melt and the sound of moving water  enters urban soundscape; the first outdoor beer and shashlyk at Kafe Bogatir; the first time you get pinged in the head by a falling kashtan (chestnut); the first time a carpetdog's pee freezes into a yellow icicle when he lifts his leg. But, as...