London Fashion Week 2011: Bunmi Koko

Late night at Freemason’s Hall saw Vauxhall Fashion Scout present African Fashion Award 2010 winner, Bunmi Koko, to an unusually packed out audience and I was down the front to check it out.

Bunmi Koko is a luxury fashion and art label specialising in both couture and ready to wear womens fashion, whilst also possessing a sister company in artistic illustration. This combination of art and fashion is vital to the brand’s philosophy with all collections striving to present the company motto of  ‘Luxuria, Art, Elegans’. Presenting her late night SS12 collection, “Allure of the Sirens”,  we are told that Bunmi drew inspiration from Greek Mythology and the infamously seductive Sirens who lured sailors to their deaths with their enchanting call.

With me squinting and desperately trying to remember the names of the former this and that on the FROW*,  the lights dimmed on my struggling efforts  and realigned my interests on the mysterious figure making their way down the walk, disguise in the darkness.  As the lights go up, a young girl begins to belt out a series of soulful sounds,  reminiscent of the Siren myth, to accompany the backing track as the first model started to strut.

Floor length pieces colour blocked with blue and yellow accompany midi-length cutaway dresses  and structured bustiers, making an avid departure from recent Bunmi Koko collections. The colours were vibrant and boldlybright while the choice of chiffon and organza fabrics allowed the collection to flow with elegant ease.  Every so often, a border line couture piece broke through with intricate cut out details and oversized, structured collars in orange and green to add variation to the feminine draping. Blown out, teased hair and metallic sweeps of sea green adorning the faces of each model addied a dash of Siren glamour in keeping with the nights theme.  As the final model returned to the back, Bunmi Olaye, the designer herself, took to the runway for a carefree walk of honour clearly overwhelmed of the turn out and waving to familiar faces in the crowd. Not bad for late night on a Tuesday!

*Sabrina, former-Misteeq, Ali Bastien (‘Who?’ you cry? Formerly Becca from Hollyoaks, the naughty naughty teacher who had an affair with the attractive school boy and got stabbed in prison for not being able to keep it in her pants. Classic Front Row attendee....) and Keisha, former-Sugababe. Oh and BB from Dirty Sexy Things but that all passed me by.