Tuareg designer brings 'anti-sharia' sass to Dakar ramps

The Sahel's most feted fashionista, Tuareg designer Alphadi, hit the runway at Dakar Fashion Week with a homage to Mali, whose vast north is largely under control of hardline Islamists.

The bright colours, occasionally bare arms and sparkle that sashayed down the catwalk were definitely not in keeping with sharia, the strict Islamic law that has been enforced in northern Mali for the past two months.

'That's the idea,' laughed the man who was introduced to the crowd at the final show of the 10th annual Dakar Fashion Week on Saturday night as the 'Magician of the Desert'.

Alphadi was born in the fabled city of Timbuktu, an ancient trading hub, intellectual centre and popular metaphor for a mythical faraway place.

But since jihadists exploited a political vacuum following a coup d'etat and planted their ominous black flags in the town in late March, tens of thousands have fled and those that remain have to follow strict Islamic law.

Women have to wear veils and are not permitted to wear trousers, smokers are flogged and cigarettes and alcohol destroyed.

'It shocks me,' Alphadi said in an interview with AFP on Sunday.

'Timbuktu has always been a secular town, everyone living together, sharing, blacks and whites, very cosmopolitan. A mysterious town!'

The 55-year-old, whose full name is Sidahmed Seidnaly, moved to Niger with his trader parents aged 13 which is where his brand rose from the arid, dusty edges of the Sahara desert to find fame in fashion capitals New York and Paris.

'The situation in Mali affects me deeply, I am Malian of origin, it cannot continue like this,' said Alphadi, effusing about politics while simultaneously directing assistants, models and greeting passers-by.

On June 2 he raised 50 million CFA (76,000 euros, $95,000) in a telethon held in Niamey which he will on Wednesday hand to the UN refugee agency, which counts 41,000 Malian refugees in Niger.

Through his 'fashion for peace' designs, made by Malian artisans and featuring hand-dyed polished cotton known as bazin, Alphadi wants to unveil Mali's creativity which he says should not be stifled by sharia.

He showed voluminous bazin skirts, shoulderless tops accessorised by a glittery wisp of fabric which could graze the hair and fall over the shoulders as an afterthought of a veil, or be used as a shawl.

At the end of the show Alphadi surged to the front dressed in shiny red, gold and green, carrying a large Malian flag in the same colours.

Mali's woes began in January when Tuaregs launched a decades-old bid for independence in the north. Alphadi agreed his people had been ignored for decades by Bamako, but said splitting Mali in two could not be the answer.

Mali's army was overwhelmed by the Tuareg rebels who brought weapons back from Libya's recent war, and staged a coup on March 22.

With the north barely protected, the Tuaregs quickly seized the main towns.

At their flanks were the Islamist group Ansar Dine, or Defenders of Faith, backed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who soon took the upper hand and have had a fractious relationship with the secular Tuareg.

Another Malian designer Mariah Bocoum is from Bamako where she and her children were holed up in the days after the coup, smelling gunpowder and hearing shots fired around the capital.

She was inspired to do a five-piece mini-collection.

A form-fitting green dress with green beret cocked on the model's head symbolised the low-ranking putschists.

A similar outfit with red belt and red beret symbolised the former regime, which was protected by paratroopers who attempted a counter-coup.

'The three others represent the Malian population as I would like to see it, full of colours which express joy: Blue, green, orange, yellow,' said Bocoum.

'It is an invitation to get rid of this hate we have for each other. Green beret against red beret, some Tuareg against the southerners and vice versa. My dream is to see these people hand-in-hand so we can save our country from the Islamists.'



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Swiss chemical process makes eco-friendly jeans

It takes lots of water and chemicals to make a pair of jeans, and environmentally conscious clothing makers caught on years ago to the need to make more sustainable versions these popular pants.

But a Swiss chemical company said Tuesday its process for making eco-friendly jeans could streamline those efforts, saving enough water to cover the needs of 1.7 million people per year if one quarter of the world's jean-makers started using it.

The dying technology, known as Advanced Denim, was described at the 16th annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute.

Miguel Sanchez, a textile engineer at Clariant, said the technique can produce a pair of jeans using up to 92 percent less water and up to 30 percent less energy than conventional denim manufacturing methods.

Traditional techniques may require as many as 15 dyeing vats and a host of chemicals, while Advanced Denim uses one vat and a new kind of liquid sulfur dye that requires just one sugar-based reducing agent, he said.

The process, if used on a wide scale, could save 2.5 billion gallons of water per year, prevent the release of 8.3 million cubic meters of wastewater and save up to 220 million kilowatt hours of electricity, he added.

'Advanced Denim wants to go beyond the technologies that are today considered standard for obtaining denim material,' Sanchez said.

Many other companies, including denim-giant Levi-Strauss, already make their own versions of eco-friendly jeans that use less water, are made with organic cotton, or use natural dyes. These products remain a niche market, however.

Jeans, particularly those that are distressed to appear as if they have been worn, have come under fire in recent years for wasting water, overusing harmful chemicals and using sandblasting that can endanger workers' health.



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Savile Row tailors open doors into exclusive world

LONDON (Reuters) - Michael Skinner and a tiny coterie of colleagues are intimately familiar with the physical details of rock stars, royalty and some of Britain's most famous historical figures.

But don't expect him to start dishing out the gossip, because absolute discretion is a professional hallmark of the tailors on Savile Row in London, whose customers over some two centuries of service stretch from famed military hero Horatio Nelson to Michael Jackson and Britain's Prince William.

The now master cutter at Dege & Skinner collected one of his most favorite anecdotes at the tender age of 18, when he was given the task of dressing then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation.

'It was an amazing thing...being at Westminster Abbey and actually having to dress the great man,' Skinner told Reuters on a visit to the Row in honor of London's first ever standalone event for men's fashion over the weekend.

Skinner has spent a lifetime on Savile Row, a street known around the world for the bespoke clothing made by a handful of traditional firms such as Dege & Skinner, Gieves & Hawkes, H. Huntsman & Sons and Henry Poole & Co as well as modern designers like Ozwald Boateng and E. Tautz.

The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Queen Elizabeth as well as Admiral Horatio Nelson and the man who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington, have all had clothes, robes, suits and military uniforms from the tailors gathered here.

Skinner who runs one of the last remaining family-owned businesses left on Savile Row with his son William, opened their showrooms and workshops to the public as part of last weekend's first London Collections Men fashion event.

'We're not a sort of hocus pocus bunch of people behind frosted windows. We're actually pretty decent people who do a pretty decent job doing our damnedest to make really nice clothes and that's what gives us the buzz,' Skinner said.

'It is exciting to be part of the fashion week and to showcase Savile Row and what we do as a trade in terms of the craft industry, making clothes in the time-honored fashion for the individual,' William Skinner said.

Two-piece suits from the country's top craftsmen in men's clothing start from 3,000 pounds ($4,719), but customers who may be daunted by the eye-watering prices for bespoke clothing from a Savile Row tailor have some options.

Dege & Skinner provides many alternative methods of payment to encourage people to buy on Savile Row, added Michael Skinner.

'We've always had a policy of doing everything we can to help each individual and we have means of extending credit, we have ways of paying by bank order, special offers for young officers in the forces to buy civilian clothes which we've now extended to young people for their first suit.'

His father William said that one of the selling points of Savile Row is that its tailors offer clothes that are timeless, because they are made just for you.

'When you're spending the money that people do on our clothes, then you don't want it to fall out of fashion in six months time, you want something special. And that's why they come to us,' he said.

Gieves & Hawkes Bespoke Cutter Richard Lawson's workshop displays an impressive collection of brown paper patterns, each containing the specific measurements of customers.

The company's archive includes pieces created for Nelson, who settled his tailoring bill just before he was killed at the naval Battle of Trafalgar as well as Waterloo victor Wellington. The firm is famous for its military tailoring services to the British Army and the Royal Navy.

A heavily embroidered black and gold jacket for late singer Michael Jackson on display in the company's showroom cost £20,000 ($31,330) alone to make.

Lawson, who has worked on the Row for nearly five years, said the greatest joy he gets out of his job is when the suit he has made for his customer fits perfectly.

'When you put it on the chap's shoulders and literally, it just slots on like that and the customer straight away starts feeling like he's wearing it, you cannot replace that feeling,' he told Reuters.

'It makes up for all the other stresses that go on when things don't go quite as smoothly or things are going wrong. It's a great part of the job.'

Getting an apprenticeship on London's most exclusive street for tailoring is competitive as there is a lot of interest in joining the trade, said Lawson.

'A lot of it is do with the luck of being in the right place at the right time when that apprenticeship position comes up and Savile Row has a real buzz about it now,' Lawson said.

'It's a beautiful little community, we all work on the same row, we know each other, and as I say, once you're on the inside, it's a real family atmosphere we have.'

(Additional Reporting by Cindy Martin, editing by Paul Casciato)



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Rocha and Anderson among designers tipped for top by British Fashion Council

Having previously championed now internationally acclaimed designers including Matthew Williamson, Giles Deacon and Christopher Kane, the British Fashion Council has unveiled the latest recipients of its famous NEWGEN sponsorship scheme.

Established in 1993 and considered one of the world's most significant fashion design talent identification schemes, NEWGEN this week announced the names of 13 emerging creatives who will receive sponsorship for London Fashion Week this September.

Michael Van der Ham, originally from The Netherlands, joins designer John Rocha's daughter Simone and Ireland's J.W. Anderson in the lineup of creators receiving sponsorship for runway shows.

Rising stars to receive presentation sponsorship include Christopher Raeburn, J. JS Lee, Lucas Nascimento and Portuguese designer duo Marques Almeida, along with hat designer Nasir Mazhar and knitwear label Sister by Sibling.

Receiving funding to exhibit their designs are footwear designer Sophia Webster and labels Palmer//Harding, Huishan Zhang and Lim Cooper.

'The calibre of design and talent in the UK fashion industry is outstanding and continues to grow from strength to strength,' enthused British Fashion Council Chief Executive Caroline Rush in a release.

To keep up to date with London Fashion Week visit http://www.britishfashioncouncil.com/.



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Adidas cancels release of "shackled" sneakers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After a public outcry, Adidas AG canceled the release of an upcoming sneaker model that featured plastic orange shackles attached to the shoes' heels.

In a June 14 Facebook post, the shoe company unveiled the 'JS Roundhouse Mids,' purple and gray sneakers with attached short shackles that bore the company's name. The shoes had been set for release in August.

'Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?' read a caption on the picture post revealing the shoes.

A storm of angry comments erupted on the Facebook page, including some accusing the company of racism in the shoes' design. The German sportswear maker canceled the shoes on Monday afternoon.

On Tuesday, however, the original post could still be found on the 'Adidas Originals' Facebook page.

In a Huffington Post blog post on Tuesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called the shoes 'offensive, appalling and insensitive,' saying they were reminiscent of slaves and prisoners.

Speaking on CNN Tuesday morning, Jackson said they were 'a gross insult' and said Adidas was insensitive in designing the sneakers and that the company only canceled the shoes in light of a potential boycott.

Adidas said in a statement that it apologized 'if people are offended by the design' and said it was withdrawing plans to make the shoes available in the marketplace.

'The design of the JS Roundhouse Mid is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott's outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery,' it said.

The 'shackled' sneakers are Adidas' second controversy in two days. On Monday, it was sued by a man claiming that the company's adiPure shoes, which mimic the effect of running barefoot and advertise a decrease in risk of injury, actually increase the risk for foot damage.

(This story has been refiled to correct that Adidas AG , not U.S. unit, canceled shoe)

(Reporting By Joseph O'Leary; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Dan Grebler)



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