Fashion Update!!: NYFW

I love to find out what’s new in the fashion world and I found it on my friend’s blog The Essence Of . . . !! Essence is fellow Albany State University graduate (GO RAMS!!) that followed her dreams to NY, got her Masters and is now an Assistant Editor at Today’s Black Woman Style Report Magazine!! Recently her adventures landed her smack dab in the middle of New York Fashion Week and she’s sharing her amazing experience with us! Here’s her most recent installment:

NYFW Pt. 2: Fashion Designer Samantha Black, My Vote for Who Got Next!

by Essence Gant

Hey, y’all! What’s good? I hope everything! If not, challenge yourself to see the positive even in the worst circumstances. That’s my little sermon for today!

Designer Samantha Black

Now, ever hear that saying, “Who Got Next?” Sometimes award shows use it as a category (Keke Palmer got it from Black Girls Rock in 2010). It pretty much just means the person to look out for, the next sensation! And when it comes to fashion, Samantha “Sammy B.” Black has my vote. The young and beautiful talent’s appreciation for artistry shows up in her label, creating some of the most statement-making garments infused with life, luxe, sexiness and femininity. For this reason, I wanted to feature her. We hear about the same designers each fashion week, and that’s cool; but I wanted to focus on someone with impeccable talent who’s still somewhat of a hidden gem in the large world of fashion design. On Wednesday, I went to the Broad Street Ballroom where she presented her Fall 2012 collection. Outside stood a sea of hopefuls, anxiously waiting to get in. Inside was everyone from stylist and designer Marc Clark, stylist, former editor and current image activistMichaela Angela Davis, eyewear extraordiaires Coco && Breezy and the list of who’s who on the style scene continues. I wasn’t introduced to the designer’s work until 2011 when I started working with the magazines, and I knew then that she was special. You know how some people just have that thing, the “x-factor” if you will? Well, she has that, along with a natural inclination to fashion, a very humble spirit and drive like nobody’s business (she makes everything with no help)!

Seconds after the music’s first few thumps, Toccara from ANTM stepped onto the runway, debuting the first piece from Samamtha Black’s Fall ’12 collection. If the sheer, black fitted bodice and flowing skirt with solid underpinnings was the start, and it was, I was even the more thrilled but also curious as to how the collection could live up to such a stunning standard. But it did. I found myself telling my friend Al, “OMG! I want that,” as each model took to the platform. There was this one body-loving-hugging dress, sheer navy in the front with perfectly placed gold metallic triangles, “leaving something to the imagination,” as my mom would say. It was so sexy and I WANT IT! The budding designer told EBONY.com that she wanted her collection to embody elements of  “back-in-the-day” royalty, but in a “contemporary” way. Using black and navy as her primary color palette, “and then the gold to bring in that luxe feel,” Black utilized materials that she had until it pieced together as a complete collection!

Toccara started the show off in this winning number! I love this because it could work well with so many body types, whether your a statuesque 2, like me, or a curvy, voluptuous Toccara, you can pull it off and look FABULOUS!