Its not often one gets to meet inspirational young talent. This i have found in the form of Osaze Osanyande a young Nigerian t-shirt designer and an acclaimed artist inspired by 21st century interpretations of African art. I was privileged to talk to the young lady about her new collection and what inspires her, this is how it went.

Tell me a bit about yourself and what Mr king is about-

I’m a simple little hobbit trying to make beautiful great things Mr King was borne out of the concept of “art on a t-shirt”.. i could make a piece on canvas and only one person would enjoy it…why not do it in different colors let 6 other people enjoy it! t-shirts are so underestimated in fashion and it’s time we started respecting them a bit more.

How and when did Mr king start?

I’ve always drawn and painted and did little presents for my friends and family. after graduating in 2006, i decided to explore my artistic side and settled on making tees! the response was phenomenal and with encouragement and perseverance, it’s continued to grow.

Mr king?? how did you come up with that name?

Oh I have been getting that question a lot. We are channeling the mentality of a king; regal, worldly and confident. I am proud of where we i come from, and excited about exploring future possibilities and taking and learning from everything life throws at us. In line of that i thought the name of my fashion line should outline those qualities

What exactly is ‘razzness’, its a word a lot of young nigerian tend to use these days ? Razzness is the opposite of cool. there are two types; razz razz and cool razz. razzistic razzness is when u try too hard to be “cool” and end up being a bad imitation of cool. Cool razz is being thoroughly down to earth with little illusions of grandeur, as u can tell, I’m just rambling…..

There are so many designers out there right now, what sets you apart from the herd?

Herd!! what herd? I would say that Mr King stands out due to the quality of the designs and garments. they are fun and witty with a social conscience

What designers inspire you??

I am inspired by a broad range of artists; poets, designers, painters, musicians… Vivienne Westwood, spoken word artist Ayo, Zero 7, David Hockney, young people taking their destinies into their hands, list is endless…

Tell us about your new collection-

It is inspired by Africa’s fallen heroes that i feel are not recognized enough and almost forgotten. it has some proper comic moments and bits of iRep

Where can you designs be purchased-

Of the website www.mrkingapparel.com, White Label Clothing 53 Church street, Manchester, M4 1PD. White Label Clothing, The
Corn Exchange, Leeds, LS1 7BR.

You have got a fashion show and exhibition coming up, can you elaborate on that?

I am really excited about it!! it’s a fashion show showcasing the 2008 collection and art exhibition. this is in line with Mr King’s concept of art on a tee and an opportunity to collaborate with other artists and exhibit all of our works in a highly visible space. There will be drinks, music and a chance to network with young professionals in fashion, art and business.

Is the show open to the public?

Hell yeah!! the exhibition on Brick Lane (London) and is open from 1pm to 4.30pm with free admission to introduce an eclectic mix of fresh African talent interpreting themselves in the context of their heritage and living in diaspora. The Mr King fashion show and private viewing of the exhibition is also open to all but you have to email info@mrkingapparel.com to get an invite posted out to you.

Finally..anything you would like to share with Afriville readers?

Be happy and grab life and i am a strong believer in the power of collaboration so in the words of Onyeka Owenu one love, keep us together!

Written by Tinu Ade-Philips.

Africa» beauty» fashion» mr king» nigeria» saze»

In the ever so competitive world of modeling, Africa’s very own Noella Coursaris speaks to “Afriville The Blog” on Africa, web apps and philanthropy.

To introduce her no one does it better than Frederic N’sienie

Noella Coursaris began her journey on the soil of the Congo where a Congolese mother and Cyprus father brought her into this world.This example of Feminine pulchritude embodies the zest, the vim and spontaneity of women that know they are inherently beautiful. As you would come to see,Noella burst with radiant energy and ardent love for life and humanity, in person and spurring out of her pictures, This Vigor extends to her professional as well as personal life.

Noella is perceived by many as a vessel of the enrichment darting from transculturalism. The Congolese born, swiss educated , got her modeling career started off after she did the Agent Provocateur campaign , the well known lingerie campaign.

Cheeky,hard working,focused such is Noella as a model. Her works include projects with entities such as IPOD,Virgin Mobile,Barclays,CDS covers… Various covers and magazines such as Cosmopolitan,Essence,GQ,New Women,Vixen, Mens Health,Arena,Pride… She also participated to a few video projects,the latest being the video of renowned UK artist Craig David.

Resolute,levelheaded and ambitious such is Noella as a business person.

Noella desires to utilize being one of the rare Congolese model successful internationally and exercise social leadership in the Congo. She hopes to start a residential institution for the care and education of orphans.

They say that a book is a story for the mind and a song a story for the soul,Noella is a story for the eyes.

The Interview

Why do you have an interest in reaching out to the Afriville community?

Africa is my roots, it is where I was born, I come from the Democratic Republic of Congo and even if I did not spend most of my life on its soil, I have a deep sense of attachment towards it. My latest trip to Africa that took me to Cote d’Ivoire and the Congo has been very emotional. I feel like we need to embrace each other more and that is what I am trying to do with the public as well as in my professional life. I work with Africans from different nationalities, some Ivorians, Nigerians, Senegalese, Congolese, Mauritanians, and Ghanaians etc. It is only right that I come on Afriville and engage a dialogue with the community.

What is your feeling on the usage of Web application such as Afriville, Facebook and the likes to communicate with the public at large?

You know, humanity has definitely made the big jump into technology, I did not realize it myself until I came into the states, technology is everywhere and it affects our lifestyle in so many ways, from instant messaging, text messaging to social networks such as yours, email services and websites, the worldwide web and web applications really change the rules of communication and interaction. I can by the means of your platform communicate with Africans in all parts of the world, I do not have to be on TV, the radio or in a magazine for them to know me. What is even greater is that they can answer back to me on my profile page; it is a real discussion instead of the one-way communication traditional media made us used to.

What would you want to communicate to the public?

The discussion that I would like to have is a discussion about the real Noella, my objectives, and my goals. The public should always go beyond what they see of public figures, get to know our flaws, get to understand what makes us strong or appear great. The pictures of me you will see in magazine should not be enough. I feel that all public figures from Athletes, singers to politicians owe it to the public. Show who you are, show what you stand on that allowed you to make it to that point. Someone is watching and can get inspired by your drive, abnegation, resolve and success.
Being a young woman in my type of industry, it is very important to me to show that it will take much more than symmetric features to make it to the top of the fashion world. It will take strength of character, vision and the right networks to do it. I just want to be a reminder of that to young women out here, I want to remind them what numerous people probably told them: be what you want to be, be the best at what you want to be.

What is happening at this stage of your professional life

I am working between London and New York but I have been based in New York in the past year or so. I mostly do a lot of print work and magazines spread. I have signed up for some acting classes so do not be surprised to see me on the box-office, as a matter of fact I appeared in the new Chris Rock movie” I think I love my wife”.
On another note, I am in the process of setting up a charity institution, the Georges Malaika Foundation, My partners and I would like to be involved in social entrepreneurship, this foundation would give us the muscle to be more effective at that. I will share more details as we pass the first stage of getting all our paperwork right.

Do you see an emergence of African designers, models and fashion shows in the near future (2-3 years)?

Yes I do, being far from the scene does not help to have a clear and concise picture of what is happening but I must say that here in New York the African touch is very en Vogue. You can see urban lines as well as more classic brand embrace the African inspired collection. Should and will African designers, models and fashion shows benefit from it, I sure think so. They will need to develop a real dialogue among themselves and have a strategy to make it happen correctly.

How much of a collaborative effort do you see between the African visual arts community (designers, painters, sculptors, and cinema) and fashion models?

To tell you the truth, it is probably increasing but we have not reached the point where it is common place and normal for breakthrough African designers, models, designers, fashion magazines, sculptors, painters, movie directors to work together. On the part of models I also feel like we need to one increase and diversify our skills, learn to dance, take acting classes, learn to sing. Doing so will make it easy for to collaborate with individuals outside the fashion industry.

What is next for Noella?

A lot of work, creating the bridge to a acting career, trip to the continent for the launch of the Malaika Foundation and socializing with the Afriville community( for real)

For more on Noella take a look at

Official Noella Site

Her Foundation

Noella’s Afriville profile

Noella’s Facebook profile

Article on African Path

Mimi Magazine Article

Africaincorp Article

Spectrum Women Article

Annansi Chronicles Article

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