MUCH ADO ABOUT THE NIGERIAN KIT FOR RUSSIA 2018

Long after the outcome of the match on Sunday 15 July 2018 that determines the winner of the FIFA World Cup Final at the 80000 seater Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, fashion would be the one thing that would linger long in the minds of spectators and millions of football lovers the world over. What has fashion got to do with football you ask?  Well for the uninitiated, it's now official, fashion and football have officially become twins if the buzz about the official kits of some of the national teams is anything to go by, particularly that of Nigeria.  

3D-PRINTING AND THE FUTURE OF 'ASO-EBI'

It’s a Thursday evening in the year 2036. In Lagos, Ehiwenma has a society wedding to attend on Saturday. To be frank, she has thought of little else for several weeks now. Unless you lived under a rock somewhere in Mars, EVERYONE knew that “ain’t no party like a Lagos party”. Her major preoccupation is how to make a resounding fashion statement and make the occasion’s best dressed list. Her appearance in ‘AsoEbi Bella’ is already a foregone conclusion! Lagos babes certainly take no prisoners with their overall appearance at these functions. Some even do pass the bride sef!

An interesting angle to her grand fashion take-over-plan is that a key element, her dress, is not ready but she is not losing any bit of sleep over that. Smiling to herself she remembers a little over a decade ago when this would have been a prime ingredient for a major meltdown and high blood pressure to boot. Ah! Designers and tailors alike ‘showed her pepper’! But all that had been relegated to a very distant past.

Ehiwenma is in receipt of the digital file of the wedding fabric for guests (popularly known as Aso-ebi) which had been distributed to those who subscribed. She would use the design from House of Deola’s latest collection which, come to think of it, is reminiscent of their ‘Komole Kandids’ collection that was the entire rave in 2016. Fashion indeed does come full circle. Phew! Had that digital download cost a fortune or what? It was worth every single naira. As they say,“soup wey sweet, na money kill am”! According to her plans, printing of the aso-ebi outfit to her exact fit commences on Saturday evening. The embellishments to be attached to the bodice of the dress were printed a week earlier, same for the shoes and other accessories

WEARABLE ARCHITECTURE

 

3D printing has become a useful tool in solving both complex and everyday design issues as evidenced in this shoe design from United Nude, a popular Dutch footwear brand that has carved a niche for itself with its ultra unique footwear.

One of its latest shoes named the ICE shoe comprises of a detachable upper leather strap and a white eight inch 3D printed sole made of plastic PLA filament. The white platform sole has been designed as though hewn from a block of ice. Talk about wearable architecture even if not for the faint hearted!