Maestro's Media: OUT & ABOUT AT THE GHANA FASHION AND DESIGN WEEK 2013. DAY 1

JOYCELYN ADUAKYE & LOVETTE

DANIELLE ALLEN & STEPHANIE ADU

MUNACHI ABII

The 2nd edition of the GFDW 2013, that is the Ghana Fashion & Design Week held very recently, in fact it was last week, between Friday October 11 and 13, 2013. It was 2 days of runway and then VIP gathering on the 3rd day.

MORE GIST & PICTURES AFTER THE BREAK. PLS CLICK ON READ MORE BELOW

The seminars, exhibition & runway showcase was at the prestigious Movenpick Hotel, Cantonments Ridge, Accra, Ghana. Then the VIP after event party was at the beautiful Villa Monticello. Apparently the Movenpick Hotel is the most prestigious in Ghana and truth be told it was of international standards in every way you can think about. Well appointed, super cool, well behaved hotel staff members, up to date facilities etc. So in terms of choice of venue for the showcase, a big kudos to the organizers.We saw very many Nigerians around at the Hotel, who had come in for their own 'special businesses' so we ain't gonna mention no name, what happens in Accra, stays in Accra.

How was Ghana? For us as a first time visitor to that part of the world, it was an eye-opener. We totally & thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The Ghanaian are so chilled & laid-back, no 'grags' whatsoever!!! The 45 minutes flight to Accra was like a breeze, before we knew it we had arrived, the cute airport; though not modern it was very welcoming and the immigration officials were quite friendly, no one asked us what we had brought with us for them and were quite helpful. No yellow card and you ain't entering their town.

We passed through immigration super quick, the Soundcity Crew in Ghana led by Ebuwa Martins and the ones who just landed from Lagos with us, Deji Adeniji, Uche Odoh, Monday & Dayo were a great help, off to the Mirage Royale Hotel, East Legon we all went. From here on we confirmed that it was the common nature of the Ghanaian people to be super nice. The hotel in form of apartments was super cool.

After resting all through that evening of Thursday. So on to why we were in Ghana, which was the Ghana Fashion & Design Week 2013. We were supposed to have been a part of the 1st edition at the same venue in 2012, but we couldn't make it as we were at the AFWLA 2012. So we have no previous show or edition to judge this one by, but as par what we saw at this year's edition, we believe the organisers still have much to do and improve on.

We must first commend them for their effort at trying their best to deliver a first class show. Venue like we already said was 1st class. Idea for the showcase....Great! Execution of the ideas? We would have to give them 2 and half over 5.

Timing was a major problem, on both days things didn't start until about 2 to 3 hours later than the scheduled time. Also there was not enough models for the showcase, how can one hold a showcase of this caliber with a maximum of 10 models? We also noticed that as much as there were 'guests' we didn't see many of the Ghanaian super stars & celebrities the likes of Jackie Appiah, Nadia Buari, Yvonne Nelson, John Dumelo, Majid Michel,Van Vicker Yvonne Okoro etc were absent except for Juliet Ibrahim who only came on the 2nd day with her younger and deliciously beautiful sister. It was like most of those we attended were guests at the hotel and a few who must have heard one way or the other or some who came in from abroad. We do not believe that the show got enough media hype in the local media like it should have. A brand carrying the name 'Ghana anything' should be given the requisite media hype in our understanding.

There were some at the show that had attended the prior edition, who said that the 2012 edition was much better, there yardstick for making such assessment we do not know. But we believe that in terms of the whole package, there is much room for improvement and that the organizers should work on their weaknesses, while improving on their strengths in subsequent editions.

Anyway, we had fun in our own way. Met some great and stylish people over the 3 days.

We were able to get a few pictures of the out & about for your viewing pleasure. Check out Munachi Abii ex-Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2007 & Hip-hop artiste who was in town and attended the show. She's been cruising around the world lately, prior to Ghana she was in America. Also at the show were the likes of Sharon Rekana-Ojong- stylist, blogger & pr personality, Paul Ukonu photographer extraordinaire & Munachi's manager, Moriam Musa the CEO at Morsi Pr, Joycelyn Aduakye, Telecoms Engineering student, ex-beauty queen- Miss Ghana West Africa, fashion & glamour model, Joan Ibuzo, creative director of House of Marie, Bee Arthur- designer & social butterfly, Sicgmone Kludje- Knitwear designer & blogger, Danielle Allen- entrepreneur & designer, Stephanie Adu, Aisha Igbinovia, creative director of Nichole by Haguana, Hilary Andoh, Rhoda Ebun- stylist & pr personality, Abena Temeng, Modupe Benson-Roth, designer & creative director Modella B and many others who attended.