Trends Watch/ Runway Report

Mai Atafo  presents: African City Slicker 

By Millicent Arebun

Mai Atafo was very much the man of the moment as his label’s collection, presented at the Arise Magazine Fashion Week Lagos 2012 drew gasp of sheer delight, envy, standing ovation and simple pleasure. His use of colours that explodes and yet beguile the senses, the detailing of the pieces, practicality, functionality and sophistication of his designs, made the entire men collection a pleasure to watch and a delight to own. Chatting with him backstage amidst the congratulatory hugs and  general goodwill, this is what he has to say concerning his stunning collection aptly termed the ‘African City Slicker’

What is the name of the collection you presented at the AMFW 2012 Lagos

The collection was called ‘African City Slicker’

Tell us all about it?

Ooh, it all about a week in the life of an African big boy. What you see him wear to work, travel with, go to the beach with, and wear to different kinds of functions in the week. Basically a full week wardrobe.

Everyone knows you are a man of colours but in an industry where colours are now the norm , your colours still manage to be different and outstanding, what’s the secret?

Everyone is now doing colours, so I thought if am to keep the edge I have to do something different in my colours. Everyone is going for white, red, yellow and so on , so I went for strong colours that are a bit  more subtle. I used Rust, leafy green, basically colours that people normally won’t gravitate towards but colours that men can wear, there was also the normal black and white and some bold statement pieces  in the black palette.

We saw a little something different from your collection this year which is the Ankara fusion  on your suit, tell us more about that?

That was meant to be give a little pop of colour at the end of the day. When you see the Ankara waist coat lining, that will bring and give you the necessary pop that you need as African, besides they say Ankara is our own fabric, so I sort of fused it with the suit to bring it back home.