South African Fashion Designer, Chuks Collins, is a Hollywood A-list Favorite
+1 South African Fashion Designer, Chuks Collins, is a Hollywood A-list Favorite
South African Fashion Designer, Chuks Collins, is a Hollywood A-list Favorite
South African Fashion Designer, Chuks Collins, is a Hollywood A-list Favorite
South African Fashion Designer, Chuks Collins, is a Hollywood A-list Favorite
With looks full of character, exuding power and presence, Chuks Collins delivered a seamless rendering of traditional African elements with modern Western style, bold shapes and vibrant colors lent themselves as much to voluminous silhouettes as to slim body-hugging ones. UK-born, Nigeria-raised Collins’ design sensibility stems from his love and commitment to honoring women, a heartfelt narrative. The core of his inspiration is women who care deeply about him, particularly his mother and his grandmother. His priority though is paying homage to all the women who make his creative, aesthetically brilliant world go ’round. His loyalty to women who share his vision goes beyond immediate family. This season he curated five South African female designers who showed for the first time at NYFW.
Drawing inspiration from his global roots and education, Chuks Collins creates an aesthetic that defies categorization. Each design embodies elegant, unexpected originality that sets it apart. Collins counts The Jonas Brothers, Jimmy Fallon, Thuso Mbedu, Quincy, Trevor Jackson, and Terence Nance, among celebrity fans who have worn his looks, showing his creativity off with exceptional allure.
Chuks Collins bridges the gap between African and Western fashion. He empowers individuals to creatively express their very own sense of self and sense of style. Always committed to sustainability and social responsibility, Collins has set out to build an ecosystem to sustain his mission of eliminating fast fashion. He believes that sustainable solutions should not compromise style or quality and so he combines longevity with organic and recycled materials that serve to enhance the glamourous looks he presents. Social sustainability is his mantra.
Watching each look go by at the Chuks Collins show, each one more inventive and strikingly original than the next is to see his succinct elevation of his African heritage ebb into glorious contemporary Western fashion. No wonder many of the “celebrity guests” at the show were designers, themselves incredibly impactful fashion voices, Nicole Miller, Nanette Lepore, and Teddy Von Ranson among them. Also in attendance was passionate maternal health advocate, and founder of global pregnancy health initiative, Every Mother Counts, Christy Turlington Burns, a “supermodel” herself but simply a guest at Chuks’ show.
Chuks Collins’ collection, he says, continues to reflect his joy at being alive after surviving life-threatening illness (due to injuries sustained in a car accident). His show, he says, “celebrates the essence of motherhood and the multifaceted nature of femininity.” True. But Chuks’ collection is for the most sophisticated moms among us. Collins works with the striking colors of an African sea and sky. His palette is a direct reference to his African heritage as are the silhouettes. Although his collection does speak to his Nigerian roots his looks cross continents to retain a powerful contemporary relevance.
Each piece is a hybrid, a beautiful reflection of course of his connection to Nigeria yet a powerful mirror for contemporary Western design. The result is a stunning collection that is surprisingly emotional, and as a result, unforgettable. True to his dimensional nature, Collins’ New York Fashion Week presentation delivered a fresh elan for fashion rooted in Africa. Most importantly, Chuks Collins wants us all to understand his gratitude for the opportunity to keep creating and expressing himself through his work. This collection resonates with “healing,” it is, he says, a “homecoming.” So welcome home Chuks Collins, honored to have you back again.
