You are cordially invited to our sumptuous Fashion Feast where you can devour our artistic and ingenious photo and video shoot.

Enjoy the madness, mischief and mayhem with #TeamHeaven while we indulge our creativity and watch the magic unfold...

“Fashion shouldn’t be taken too seriously. You’ve got to have fun with it to make it work!

Think of all the endless possibilities of what you can create. Let your imagination run riot. Have fun, glam up - Love it! Rock it! Own it!"

**African Queen**

For as long as I can remember, I’ve embraced and appreciated fashion from all around the world. It is such a thrill to travel abroad, soaking up the culture, the ambience, the different languages and landscapes, and a particular soft spot for trying out new food and drink. But my greatest pleasure (and Achilles heel!) on my travels is the fashion! You might call it ‘cultural appropriation’ - I call it ‘cultural appreciation’ in all its global glory!

This month I wanted to indulge my fascination with African fashion. I wanted authentic African clothing. In my mind I had conjured up an image of fun, fabulous and over the top designs in bright, bold colourful prints.

I headed off to my favourite (non-travel) destination for finding new, up-and-coming designers: Etsy! While browsing many different African designers, I came across JadoreAfrica and its talented owner, Onome, who lives in Nigeria.

We both share a passion for statement pieces and I was totally overwhelmed by her eye-catching unique designs. Although her brightly coloured prints were beautiful, two pieces in particular caught my eye.

A black jersey dress/cascading double peplum top, with tail. It was striking, created a beautiful silhouette and it has the potential to be styled in many ways.

The second piece was a black autogele: a multi-pleated, pre-tied head wrap, made in aso-oke fabric (a hand-loomed cotton cloth). It was simple, classic, elegant, and again, the colour and design could be styled in many different ways.

Not quite what I had in mind when I started out with my search. However, these classic and simple pieces totally changed my initial plans along with the direction that the shoot was going to take.

Sticking with the traditional, I wore a gold Ndebele neck ring, made for me by ZuluBeads in Pretoria, South Africa - again this was another Etsy discovery. This traditional Ndebele choker is called Idzila. It was traditionally worn by married women whose husbands had built a home for them. The ring symbolised their bond and faithfulness to their husbands. The more rings a woman wore around her neck, the richer the husband. It is now worn with elegant outfits at wedding and engagement parties as well as formal occasions to adorn a woman.

One authentic African outfit plus Jenna Kelly armed with the best of Pat McGrath Labs makeup were all that was needed for me to look and feel like an African Queen.

**Jenna Kelly**

**Lights...Camera...Action**

“And now we invite you backstage to see this month’s shoot: African Queen.”

Credits:

Producer: Emma Heaven
Location: Studio Heaven
Photographer: Adrian Heaven
Makeup created and applied by: Jenna Kelly
Video filmed by: Christie Heaven
Video edited by: Adrian Heaven
Social media clips & photos: Catherine Esaw
Music: Boyzone - A Different Beat

Thank you to everyone on #TeamHeaven involved in the making of this issue’s shoot and video.
Your creativity and commitment never ceases to amaze me!

Share in my ‘African Queen’ dream...

WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS FLASHING IMAGES