Zang Toi, olé! African designers, bravo!

NEW YORK CITY –  In reporting New York Fashion Week and attending more than 1,100 shows over the last 10 years,  I have rarely sung the praises of a designer in constant refrain. When I have done so, it has not been because a personality clouded judgment or because the industry had brainwashed me to see a golden child’s dreck and call it genius. It has been because the kudos are so richly merited, and no other spectator in his or her right mind could deny a display of pure genius.

Zang Toi backstage with a model

That said, I can enumerate on one hand the number of American designers whose new clothing launches I would shlep 12 blocks in the rain to see. Yesterday, Zang Toi reminded me why he is in that number.

Mr. Toi, whose brand was established in New York 20 years ago, designed his spring 2010 “Toreros” womenswear collection as a tribute to the matador. One by one, he sent 31 beautiful looks down a white staircase in his 57^th Street showroom. The intimate audience — numbering fewer than 75 and including Ivana Trump and Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez - erupted in spontaneous applause several times, initially when a stunning cocoa-hued model in towering heels appeared in a fine-linen ivory suit that combined a cap-sleeve blazer and wide-leg pants with a handkerchief linen, upturned peak-lapel blouse.

Each ensemble was a feminine, finely tailored twist on the matador theme with a judicious touch of embellishment. Beads, fringe, epaulets, tassels, ruffles, velvet ribbon darts and other matador trim adorned jackets, sweaters, short dresses, skirts and gowns. Trousers in cotton canvas, twill and silk shantung were palazzo wide and pencil skinny in lengths short, capri and almost to the floor.

Black and ivory anchored the line as signature colors, but there were appreciable doses of color: trousers, a peak-lapel blazer and a short-sleeve mini trench in  floral pink; a multi-silk gazar mini-shirtdress with pouf sleeves and a beaded silk organza evening tunic in multicolored stripes; a chartreuse strapless mini-dress with jet-beaded matador borders; a dramatic silk organza ruffled evening flamenco skirt in floral pink and berry; and pieces in amethyst, emerald, sapphire , scarlet, turquoise and navy.

Mr. Toi is a red-carpet favorite of numerous celebrities, and his latest creations are sure to find their way into the wardrobes of more than a few.  While some designers continue to send out cookie-cutter collections and wonder whether they will survive the recession, he can look forward to many more years of success because he is intentional about offering everything women crave in designer clothing: uniqueness, superior craftsmanship, long-term wearability and unquestionable quality.

Attendance was much larger this season than in February, when the ARISE Promise of Africa Collective first showed at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Presented by ARISE magazine and its parent company, Thisday Group, Friday evening’s spring ‘10 show featured impressive looks by four black African designers: Nigeria’s Folake Folarin-Coker and Lisa Folawiyo, Madagascar native Eric Raisina and South Africa’s David Tlale, who won the ARISE Fashion Award for Best Designer this year and the Elle New Talent Award in 2003.

Ms. Folawiyo’s line, Jewel by Lisa, incorporated hand-embellished Ankara prints in contemporary shapes that would make a statement for a confidently chic woman in any major city around the world.  Some of her best looks were a batik-inspired silk dress with crystal-embellished strap detail, and a pink paisley biker jacket paired with skinny trousers. She’s known to invest 120 hours in completing a garment, yet her looks manage to remain unfussy.

A honeymoon in his native land was the inspiration for Mr. Raisina. He drew on impressions he gained living in Africa, Asia and Europe — as well as his current place of residence, Cambodia — to create a cosmopolitan collection rich in color. Some of his hottest looks were a crocheted yellow-and-chartreuse flower dress with a fringed skirt and a silk chiffon-trimmed, front-pleated long halter dress in dark aubergine and silver.

The designer’s aesthetic is informed by a master’s degree in textile and fashion design from the Institut Francais de la Mode in Paris, and his presentation is influenced by working on shows with the likes of Kenzo, Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior and Christian Lacroix.

Diana Ross in “Mahogany” and Nigerian artist Kolade Oshinowo were on Ms. Folarin-Coker’s mind as she crafted floaty silk chiffon, fine Chantilly lace and metallic weaves into voluminous skirts, billowy sleeved dresses and abstract-print caftans, dresses and pants for her Tiffany Amber collection.

There  are four stand-alone Tiffany Amber stores in Nigeria. Come spring, tourists will be lured inside by designs created for city nights and luxury resort living, from a yellow silk chiffon wrap dress with handkerchief sleeves to a traffic-stopping purple jumpsuit with turquoise woven detail. We wonder how many other law school graduates are having as much fun as Ms. Folarin-Coker.

Mr. Tlale paid homage to Africa’s cultural diversity and rich artistic wealth with 18 cohesive looks, including short and long fringed dresses in cream and black,  a duchess silk organza ruffled blouse over wide-legged pants, and a handsome olive green organza suit with a black shirt - one of only two looks for men in the four collections.

A favorite of South African celebrities, Mr. Tlale specializes in unpredictable, glammed-up readytowear created in his Johannesburg atelier. Last year he inaugurated a plus-size range, the Green Collection.

ARISE is presented on several stages in major cities around the world, and it provides a valuable platform for talented designers whose roots extend centuries deep into the mother continent.

More looks from the New York runways

Cynthia Steffe

Nicole Miller

William Rast