After fifteen years, The Afro Hair and Beauty show has reportedly terminated its contract with Alexandra Palace music and entertainment venue and will be relocating to the Business, Design Centre, Islington from May 2010.

From its humble beginnings in Kensington town Hall, the shows popularity resulted in rapid expansion. Alexandra Palace was for many years seen as the ideal location to host the show but due to a combination of factors the shows organisers faced a difficult decision.

The shows organiser, Grace Kelly reported in the Haringey Independent:  “It’s sad to leave Alexandra Palace, but the show is all about fashion and staying fresh, and the time came for us to move on.

“It was once a great venue, but the building is falling into disrepair and it doesn’t look as good as it once did.

“A few years ago, there were plans to revamp the Palace with bars and restaurants, and we were eager to be a part of it, but it never materialised.”

In 2009 the show was hit severely by engineering works resulting in the closure of Wood Green train station, this serves Alexandra Palace. It was reported by FLYER at the time: “show’s such as this should be compensated by rail networks that continue to disrupt and wreck travel plans across the capital.”

The Afro Hair and Beauty show is on at the Islington Business Design Centre on May 30 and 31 2010.

Now in its thirteenth year, the Mahogany Bridal Fashion and Beauty Show stands-alone in being the premier event to showcase products and services geared towards people of colour.

CEO of Mahogany Models, Sola Oyebade commented after the show: “The ‘Wedding and Tourism Industry’ has suffered under the economic down-turn and we certainly have had to weather the storm. The fact that we are now in our thirteenth year is proof that there is a big demand for shows such as this.

This years show was bigger and better than before, despite the down-turn marriages are still taking place in vast numbers. 

We have received some really positive feedback from exhibitors and the public alike. The range of clothing exhibited were far more diverse than in previous years. Our themes included; African traditional, English/African, the bridesmaids and custom-made, this reflected the demography of our visitors.

FLYER Tipped for the Top

Matthew from FLYER said: “The range of designs showcased to day was spot-on. There was a touching moment when Tarell McIntosh, 15, student winner of Fashion Diversity received a standing ovation for his unique and personal collection introduced as ‘A Dress for the Cultural Bride’.

By aged eleven Tarell had already been commissioned to embroider, crochet and knit for other designers, Tarell made his London Fashion Week Debut last year at aged only fifteen.

Tarell said; “Today was about the Mahogany bride, I’m not here to showcase western-fashion, the whole point is to accentuate the Mahogany Bride in its full entirety. It’s also my intention to bring African design and ideology to the forefront of my collection. My collection today was drawn from several previous collections which included African – patchwork and ready to wear.”

 Below is a snippet of some of the collections showcased.

Diva Luscious ready-to-wear collection combined African-fabrics with a modern twist. The models glided down the runway with effortless ease.

Latibeau combined beautifully crafted silk dresses which oozed quality. The simplicity of her designs was reminiscent of classic Greek goddesses which stood out from the crowd.

B-Divine: Traditional bridal wear with a modern twist. B-Divine’s collection was about pure elegance.  The collection was amongst the most diverse showcased and an ideal choice if you’re looking for a theme to your wedding.

Tarell McIntosh.  It’s very hard and probably unjust to categorize this young talent. His ready-to-wear collection had movement, elegance class and sophistication. His combination of patch-work using African fabric inspired by Vivienne Westwood was simply breadth-taking.

Samantha  Roach; Classic designs combined with exquisite finishing are the hallmark of this collection.

 Samantha Roach’s vision is plain to see; this statement collection is very transferable and combined with a simple personal touch-such as jewellery makes this collection very unique.  

Make-up was for the fashion show was supplied by Bella Queen. “We went for the Gothic & Glitter look because this was neutral and transferable for all collections.

What better way to kick start the new year than a trip down to Selfridge’s concept store in central London and visit their nineties inspired retail experience.

The concept store will present an edit of original nineties and nineties inspired products across fashion, accessories, lifestyle, beauty, design, music, media and film.

The nineties project an eclectic mash-up of influences, where the nihilism of Generation X met the hedonism of the 24 hour party people.

Celebrities who attended this exclusive launch included Radio One Xtra DJ: Sarah Jane Parker, Pixie Geldof, Designer – Henry Holland and the fabulous Noisette front women Shingai Shoniwa who said: “I have decided to give my hair a rest. It feels like my hair has become an extra member of the band. I’m tired of going to bed with pins in my hair.”