2014 MTV Video Music Awards

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. The only video music awards to have hosted artists who chose to wear outfit made with meat aka Lady Gaga or not very much on aka Amber Rose (who is not even an artist). So what exactly are they celebrating? Well, lets just say some load of shit called Pop music. But that's non of our business...we only judge fashion. Here we go..

Solange Knowles in @hm Studio Collection and Ariana Grande in a Leather outfit.

Love both outfits because they are different from what we normally see on both of them. Solange looks great as always. A new take on the 2-piece tailored capsule. Ariana is bridging a new style- showing maturity. 

Jordin Sparks and BF Jason Derulo look well loved up on the red carpet. Love the outfit. 

Kendall Jenner, Mylie Cyrus, Chanel Iman and Beyonce all channel the classic colour 'black' on the red carpet. How amazing was Beyonce's performance though? 

Rita Ora has been working sleepwear trend lately. Love this red dress on her. Very Marilyn Monroe. Demi Lovato looks stunning too. 

Charli! What were you thinking? 

Red carpet make-up we love......

Jennifer Lopez in @Versace, Amber Rose and Iggy Azelea take on Silver.

Jennifer Lopez looks good but there is nothing new about this. She's played it safe again!! Cannot understand what Amber Rose was thinking choosing this outfit. Not only is it tacky, it's just utterly outrageous. Just as we are trying to give her credit for changing a new chapter, she takes us back to square one. Really awful!! Iggy's dress is nice but not good on her. Maybe next time...

The reality star trio hit the red carpet yet again. Only this time, they mis-match their outfit. Kylie Jenner and Kim West should swap outfit. Kendall looks perfect!!

Photo credit: Online

Pyjamas Bravas

Ever thought of wearing the ultimate comfortwear- Pyjamas outside your house but too frightened to do so? Well....fear NOT. You can now wear your most fashionable PJs outside of your bedroom thanks to these Fashion Icons: Rihanna, Rita Ora and Russell Brand. Naturally we react with disgust to things that are not the norm however, this PJ style is selling faster than Fat Larry's chocolate chip cookie. In fact, Debenhams reported a 34% increase in sale of PJs. Clearly, this summer will be remembered for a very long time. We think they are now the new onesie.

Would you wear it?

Photo credit: Eighteen Forever (Snapped from the Metro Newspaper).

Showcase At Africa Summer Festival 2014

Africa Centre Festival 

What an incredible day it was showcasing at the 2nd Africa Centre Summer Festival this year. We showcased 9 beautiful designs from our range at the heart of Covent Garden in London. 

---

Founder of Eighteen Forever in red-heels with models after the showcase. 

Special thanks to Africa Fashion Week London, Africa Centre, Fashions Finest team, and to all the models, stylists, make-up artists, photographers, press and the audience for coming.

Please visit our website to view our range and perhaps get yourself a beautiful African piece or simply get style tips from our style section.

Website> www.eighteenforever.co.uk
Blog> www.eighteenf.blogspot.com
Email: eighteenf@gmail.com 

Model in Eighteen Forever showcase on stage. 

Founder and Miss Brazil UK & Model Paula Souza on stage after the finale. 

Founder and Story-teller Usifu Jallow

Model posed for a quick pic after stage presence.

Photo credit: Eighteen Forever and Josh Daniels

Unlocking Your Potential

What potential? How do you identify your potential? How do you unlock your potential? If, like me, you're a serial networker, always looking for practical ways to improve yourself and your business, then this article will naturally stimulate your interest.

Enterprising Women and Othella LLP organised a conference as part of the International Festival for Business this year. The conference 'Unlocking Your Potential' was held in Liverpool to empower, inspire, challenge, change, grow and motivate women in business or those with business ideas. The event featured successful female speakers who shared their success stories as well as their struggles of running a business.

The conference focus primarily on- emotional resilience, digital marketing and measuring business performance. Emotional resilience is a consequential part of successful personal and business development. Eileen Lennon said "emotional resilience is the grit to life or business. You have to get it right, once you do, everything else falls into place". Eileen's useful tips for developing your business are:-

1. Awareness of your impact,
2. Positive in your abilities (CAN do attitude),
3. Social networks (always keep them active),
4. Change (sometimes we need to do things differently. Change can be daunting but it is inevitable).
5. Be optimistic- once your emotional resilience is in check, then, you are able to position your business in a fitting manner particularly on social media.

Digital marketing is a fundamental business tool in today's business environment. Kate Hayes from NextGen highlighted some key functionalities useful for increased visibility on search engines. As a blogger, SEO and social media are two familiar tools I use on a daily basis. However practical tips for creating and managing online presence is never easy. Not only do you need good marketing contents, you also need time and finance to support your strategies.

Once you've put your emotional resilience to practice, it is time to recreate relevant content for your brand and measure the impact of your hard-work.

You can contact Othela LLP and Enterprising Women for business support.
Othela LLP> admin@othela-llp.com
Enterprising Women> farhana@enterprising-women.org

Photo credit: Eighteen Forever

See Who's Wearing Eighteen Forever

This is how you rock Eighteen Forever LBSF Sleeveless Shirt. Gertrude bought this sleeveless shirt almost 2 years ago and she is still rocking it! 

Show her some Eighteen love!

Thank you Gertrude for sharing xo 

Photo credit: Gertrude

Eighteen Forever Spring/Summer 2014

The moment you've all been waiting! Our Spring/Summer range is here and we are absolutely delighted. This time we are inspired by Vlisco print, full stop. Vlisco is a Hollandaise wax company based in the Netherlands. We use Vlisco prints with the intention of creating simple yet renaissance design for every lady.

What our creative director said-

"I've always loved Vlisco wax. The prints are vibrant and would make every woman stand out. Eighteen Forever is about simple and unique designs, so using unique prints just makes perfect sense"- Sally Kah

Design: Miss Maya £85
Brand: Eighteen Forever
Range: S/S 2014
Look out for more images from our range.

Photo credit: Eighteen Forever 

Let's Talk Ethical Fashion (Discuss)

So yesterday was our first year anniversary as a social enterprise fashion brand. We celebrated with a forum titled: Let's Talk Ethical Fashion at Liverpool Hope University. A lot of issues were raised in relation to ethical sourcing but, it became apparent during the discussion that, the definition of 'ethical sourcing' is unclear. Without a clear definition of what ethical sourcing is, we will never understand- where our products come, how they are produced. More about the discussion in our article coming soon.

Founder and Panelists discussing sweatshop labour in the fashion industry. 

L-R: Michela Insenga (Funding and Event Coordinator) and Sally Kah (Founder and Creative Director of Eighteen Forever 

Photo credit: Pranay Shakya for Eighteen Forever