test
Celebrating 170 Years of Vlisco
Binta Shuaibu/ Fentener van Vlissingen/ Hollandias/ test/ Vintage Colette/ VliscoIn celebration of Vlisco’s 170th anniversary, Vintage Colette was invited to participate in their Abuja fashion show. We were given a theme for the collection and asked to represent the present day Northern Nigerian woman using Vlisco Superwax and Hollandias fabrics. We were to produce the runway collections using the Vlisco fabric we were given and not more than 20% of any other non-Vlisco fabric.
Vlisco was established in 1846 in the city of Helmond in the Netherlands. A man named Pieter Fentener van Vlissingen bought an existing textile printing factory and named it P. Fentener van Vlissingen & co., aiming to produce and sell hand printed fabrics in-and out of the Netherlands. For 170 years they influenced the fashion landscape in West and Central Africa and have developed products such as Superwax, Hollandias, and Java for generations of loyal customers which they refer to as ‘Connoisseurs of Style.’ These fabrics have been created with beautifully detailed patterns of bright, rich and bold color combinations and also treated for shrinkage at the factory, which ensure that when you wear Vlisco, you feel truly unique. Presently, the Vlisco Group's brand portfolio consists of four brands: Vlisco, Woodin, Uniwax and GTP.
The Vintage Colette-Vlisco connection began with a family history from my grandmother down to myself at the age of 5. As a true original, the Vlisco brand has become a stable household name in almost everything that has shaped me into becoming a designer from Northern Nigeria. Weddings and other ceremonies for decades were and still are rated based on the number of Vlisco fabrics given to the bride or her family, even after childbirth. I could vividly remember so many instances where bridal gifts were returned back to the groom’s families because they did not include Vlisco fabrics when they gave the gifts to the bride and her family. Wives have valued gifts from their husbands, but a gift of Vlisco fabric was and still is paramount.
I had worked with Vlisco fabrics for the first time as a designer during the maiden edition of Lagos Fashion and Design Week (LFDW) in 2011. I could remember vividly how other designers I was competing against did not like the idea and how I was so grateful it was a fabric and design that I had been familiar with from a very young age. This, I believe provided me with so much advantage, which led to me win the competition. So here I was again five years down the line, working with Vlisco as a designer, what a satisfying feeling. I had 3 weeks to work on the collection, which was in between Eid-el_Adha and my recent Moroccan trip.
The show was great, the crowd was encouraging and the entire atmosphere was relaxing. I cannot wait for another opportunity to work with Vlisco again.
Vlisco was established in 1846 in the city of Helmond in the Netherlands. A man named Pieter Fentener van Vlissingen bought an existing textile printing factory and named it P. Fentener van Vlissingen & co., aiming to produce and sell hand printed fabrics in-and out of the Netherlands. For 170 years they influenced the fashion landscape in West and Central Africa and have developed products such as Superwax, Hollandias, and Java for generations of loyal customers which they refer to as ‘Connoisseurs of Style.’ These fabrics have been created with beautifully detailed patterns of bright, rich and bold color combinations and also treated for shrinkage at the factory, which ensure that when you wear Vlisco, you feel truly unique. Presently, the Vlisco Group's brand portfolio consists of four brands: Vlisco, Woodin, Uniwax and GTP.
The Vintage Colette-Vlisco connection began with a family history from my grandmother down to myself at the age of 5. As a true original, the Vlisco brand has become a stable household name in almost everything that has shaped me into becoming a designer from Northern Nigeria. Weddings and other ceremonies for decades were and still are rated based on the number of Vlisco fabrics given to the bride or her family, even after childbirth. I could vividly remember so many instances where bridal gifts were returned back to the groom’s families because they did not include Vlisco fabrics when they gave the gifts to the bride and her family. Wives have valued gifts from their husbands, but a gift of Vlisco fabric was and still is paramount.
I had worked with Vlisco fabrics for the first time as a designer during the maiden edition of Lagos Fashion and Design Week (LFDW) in 2011. I could remember vividly how other designers I was competing against did not like the idea and how I was so grateful it was a fabric and design that I had been familiar with from a very young age. This, I believe provided me with so much advantage, which led to me win the competition. So here I was again five years down the line, working with Vlisco as a designer, what a satisfying feeling. I had 3 weeks to work on the collection, which was in between Eid-el_Adha and my recent Moroccan trip.
The show was great, the crowd was encouraging and the entire atmosphere was relaxing. I cannot wait for another opportunity to work with Vlisco again.
To see other pictures from the event click here.
A Vintage Colette Moroccan Adventure: The 2016 Trade and Impact Summit and Exhibition
2016 Trade and Impact Summit and Exhibition/ adventures/ Binta Shuaibu/ Blogger/ Morocco/ test/ travel/ Vintage Colette
I landed in Casablanca, Morocco and went through a very smooth, warm and friendly immigration process at the airport. Then came the tasty cup of Moroccan mint tea from staff of the Trade and Impact Summit, who welcomed me at arrivals. What a refreshing moment! I took a seat, sipped my tea and made calls to inform my family that I had arrived safely and would soon be on my way to Ifrane where the Exhibition I would be attending was taking place. It was a 4-6 hour drive away from Casablanca,depending on your speed limit.
Rewind to a few weeks earlier, I had applied for a Moroccan visa to attend the summit. The visa takes at least 10 working days to be processed, with the exclusion of Fridays, and prior to that, you had to cue up at the embassy gate for 2 hours just to get the information about the necessary documents needed to secure a visa. I didn’t blame them much considering the fact that almost all Nigerians going towards that route seemed to fit the profile of the ones crossing from Morocco, through the Mediterranean, to the shores of Spain and the rest of Europe.
My visa had been approved but I needed a transit visa since I would be transiting through France. I proceeded to apply for the transit visa at the VFS office and signed an undertaking since I had only a week left before the summit that my passport be returned to me should my visa process take longer than the time frame of which I had submitted my application. This would allow me to quickly change my ticket to another airline and leave a day later than scheduled. I was called back twice to the VFS office to change my application from transit to Schengen or Airport transit visa, more or less forcing me to take the former, which I refused and finally settled for the airport transit since they had refused to submit my transit visa application for reasons I still don’t know nor understand.
The day of my flight arrived and there was no news of my visa or passport return. I made 3 trips to VFS office and the Embassy of France to no avail. I went home stressed out considering I had a breakdown a few days earlier due to stress at work. To cut the long story short, my airport transit visa was finally issued after several calls to some officials. It turns out that the VFS office filed my application wrongly and also never made a call to the Embassy of France throughout the day despite the urgency. They also never showed them the undertaking that I wrote before submission.
I was home packing with less than one hour to get to the airport. I sorted my kids, home, work, packed and dashed to the airport. My boarding experience was so tedious that I thought, “why do we as Nigerians have to go through about 4 security checks before boarding a flight, or still take off our shoes to go through detectors, follow long queues even if you have checked-in online,’ among other not-so-nice airport experiences. I didn’t even know when the plane took off. I was that tired and exhausted.
Back to Casablanca. After the tea and sweets, we boarded the bus for the long road along with other summit participants from Madagascar, Mauritius, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ghana and so on. We made two stops on the six hour journey. Yes! The driver was slow. But as a Nigerian who was accustomed to road accidents, I knew that it was better slow than fast. First, we stopped to have lunch and then use the rest room. All the while, I looked through the window and wondered, is this still Africa? The roads were so good that there wasn’t any single porthole for the entire journey. There were young and smartly-dressed policemen almost every 20kms, great roads signs, and most importantly, a very clean country. We arrived at Ifrane (often referred to as the Switzerland of Morocco due to its weather and climate) and met our hosts for the summit, checked into our rooms and went out for dinner to acquaint ourselves with one another. The city as we soon discovered, was a university town which hosted students from all over the world as the American University of Morocco called Al Akawayn University. We even went to a nearby bazaar, a walking distance from the restaurant where we had dinner.
The next day was a Sunday and instead of sitting around doing nothing, we took a trip to the city of Fes to explore the culture, visit the souk (an open-air marketplace ) and explore the oldest tannery in Africa which dates back to the 11th century. We also wanted to visit the oldest library in the world which was started by a woman named Fatima Al Fihri in the year 859. We were taken round the souk by a student from the Al Akawayn University in Ifrane and her father. It turned out that it’s much better to be taken around by a local due to the bargaining and also because it gave one the opportunity to explore more places. We ate wonderful meals within the souk, explored the pottery section of the market, the Berber carpets. With each step we took, we were no doubt coming closer to the tannery and could smell it from afar. We were all in awe of the tannery and the different leather products we saw and purchased.
We went through the summit for the next few days very smoothly with all the topics related to the buyer or seller of the exhibition fully questioned and answered. My booth wasn’t ready because my clothing racks that I had ordered weeks before were not available and a suspended rack had to be improvised for my stock and I hated every bit of the way it showed and cheapen my stock. Most buyers were there to buy crafts and not fashion, which was huge disadvantage to my brand. But I was glad for the experience, the new friends from around the globe and that I finally got one interested buyer for my brand….what a delight! We took another tourist trip to the city of Meknes before our final departure from Ifrane.
I got to spend two extra nights at Casablanca and explored the old Medina souk, and the Hassan ll grand mosque, which was built as the 13th largest mosque in world in 1986 and lasted through a seven year construction phase. Next, I stopped by the 180 year old Tijjaniyyah mosque and was in awe of its wonderful state. I then proceeded to the Cathedral of Morocco which was built in 1930 and ceased operations after the independence of Morocco in 1956. I enjoyed my exploration of Casablanca because I had met a local adventurer named Sarah, who had just returned from a hiking trip in the southern part of Morocco and had covered about 6400kms and also a trekking records of 560kms.
I enjoyed eating local delicacies like Babousch (cooked snails in their shells with fifty different herbs), bargaining at the souks, the architecture, warm hospitality and the landscape of a beautiful country. Most importantly, the event turned out to be of great economic benefit to the Vintage Colette brand. It improved our growth strategy and has also sharpened our visionary leadership focus.
The Vintage Colette Woman Series: Lape Saleh
BigH Studios/ International Widow's Day/ test/ Vintage Colette Woman Series
Lape Saleh is a motivated, creative individual who quite simply loves design and all that it entails. Her work experience spans various multi disciplinary firms. She believes design concepts, processes, planning and execution are a part of one's natural state and from an early age manifested through ideas and sketches, a knack for creative enterprises. She was born and raised in A.B.U Zaria, Kaduna and is married with four kids.
I Want To Develop a Unique, Innovative, and Indigenous Design Culture in Nigeria
I am a practicing Architect and interior designer who set up my firm, 3DV Studio about five years ago. I have a passion for art and design, therefore, my company also produces bespoke interior accessories. We have further expanded our design studio to provide vocational training in design technology for artisans and youth. I plan to be a leader and community builder for Architecture. I aim to be someone that helps develop a unique, innovative, and indigenous design culture here in Nigeria. It’s also my dream to establish a certified vocational training center for design and construction.
We Do Not Have a Research Culture Here In Nigeria
The Nigerian government needs to understand that the problems we face today concerning standards and innovation in the building industry come first, from our educational curriculum. We do not have a research culture here in Nigeria and we have not developed any of our local technologies to suit our modern day needs. We continue to adopt and import what we use and apply in design and construction from other continents. There must be a multiplicity of certified educational options for Nigerian youth. Our vocational education system may as well be non-existent. Not everyone can go to University, but that does not mean everyone shouldn't have access to other forms of tertiary education. The government should search amongst young architects and designers for talent and ideas for our future landmarks. They should also implement favorable policies that could be passed into law for maximum impact.
Do Not Sacrifice a Balanced Life for Ambition
I have experienced quite a few things in my architectural career and one thing I would like every Nigerian woman to know is that your timeline may not be the same as someone else's or even the typical career timeline of a man, and that is okay. Be yourself and do not sacrifice a balanced life for ambition. But!, persevere every day and wake up promising to be better and to achieve more AND, most importantly, don't give up!
The Vintage Colette Collection Is Very Stylish, Yet Modest
I have always admired Binta’s achievements in the fashion industry and was honored when she called me to be part of such a wonderful shoot. The concept of using real business women for a fashion ad campaign was a great idea. The Vintage Colette collection is very stylish, yet modest. The finishing on the clothing is world class and there are some details in there that could easily be missed by the layman. But it all comes together in the fit. The styles are feminine and flattering.
