Fati Asibelua Launches Momo’s Spring/Summer 2011 Collection

Fast-rising African designer Fati Asibelua has launched Momo's Spring/Summer Collection. Influenced by her roots, Fati Asibelua's Spring/Summer 2011 collection presents a kaleidoscope of African culture and crafts. The collection's inspiration comes from the designer's contemporary enthusiasm for her African roots combined with a passion for luxury fabrics. These dual passions interpret elements of African art with couture fabrics and modern silhouettes.

The backdrop of Momo's Spring/Summer 2011 collection is a graphic black and white canvas explored in plain silks and brocades. Blends of bold, colourful prints add contrast to the stark canvas. Striking prints include the opulent tie-dye on silk gazar, each panel made individually by hand, bringing a popular street technique to the couture level. Additional highlights include a blue and yellow print in silk satin, based on ancient batik techniques developed by the Dutch specifically for the African market, and a batik-like floral print. These pieces add rich, colourful elements to the collection.

Individually, each piece is beautiful, and the culminating creation is what Fati Asibelua calls "an African collage." The visual mix is one of clashing patterns which unexpectedly compliment each other. To frame such exuberant textures the silhouettes are lean and elongated, the lines graphically minimalist, and the dresses and skirts mid-calf. By contrast, shorter dresses and skirts are gathered and layered. Although immersed in African elements, the collection is thoroughly modern and relevant.

Momo's Spring/Summer 2011 collection uses African elements to express a unique sense of luxury that introduces new lines and proposes surprising ideas. The combination of European couture fabrics with African print technique is dramatic. Asibelua says, "This collection shows the possibilities of African culture and enterprise in the 21st century. My vision of African fashion is one of immense possibilities anchored on tradition but strategically forward looking."