Fashion Futuristic.. Or Faux Pas?

There were several fashion hits but it is the fails that had critics trolling the culprits on various social media sites. Ending the year on the fingers of many is Sauti Sol, thanks to their mosquito net catastrophe that got Kenyans on Twitter lamenting for over 48 hours, and giing them all sorts of names ranging from fishers of men, to Kick Malaria Out of Africa campaigners. Ironically, those who called them names were their fans, the legion that had crowned them the Most Stylish Men, but were now proclaiming that if they continue dressing that way, they will live up to the title of their latest album — Live And Die in Africa — and die in Africa. The mosquito nets — as they were called by their fans on social media — were designed by Munga, the designer of Monoxrome, who also “designed” Sauti Sol’s shawls that were also shredded by their fans. Munga defended his shawls saying the backlash was expected but fashion is about pushing boundaries and setting trends. Stylist Sunny Dolat, who dressed Sauti Sol in the mosquito nets somehow blames the fans for “not understanding.”

His view might not go down well with the fans who have stood by the boy band, and praised them when they dressed well. “There is a safeness and conservativeness that Kenyans are used to and we are trying to move away from that as the guys like experimenting through fashion,” Dolat says. “This is supposed to be fun and take a few risks while at it.” If the fans do not understand fashion as the stylist alludes, then it means whenever they praised the group for dressing well, they were wrong too. Ideally, if they do not understand, then why accept their accolades but brand them ignorant haters when they are not impressed? “Usually, we sit down as a team and decide on the theme and the colour, and consider the weather as well, then we give the designer the freedom push the limits with his creativity,” Dolat says. “Munga is very good at that. It is hot and humid at the Coast so we went for white and mesh. What they wear starts a conversation, and they then remain popular.”