XENSON Artistic Fashion in the New Vision Uganda Leading Paper

Life Style
Xenson Rocked
Publish Date: Nov 17, 2011
By Carol Kezaabu

It has been a while since we saw a fashion show that was memorable let alone exceptional but that’s what Samson “Xenson” Ssenkaaba did at his Futuristic Past fashion extravaganza on 9th November at the Kampala Serena Hotel’s Victoria Hall.

From the large x-shaped runway and beautiful lighting, to the beautiful models and music by The Uneven Band and Dj Apeman, the evening was off to a promising start.

Latif Madoi opened the show with his sewing machine and the age-old routine of making a dress in record time – this time round, 8 dresses in 25 minutes but he was done in 21.

For those seeing it for the first time, it really is impressive but if like me, you are seeing him pull off the same stunt for the 5th or was it 6th time, not so much. That said, the crowd loved him and the eight dresses, though simplistic, were well tailored.

Then it was on to Stella Ata who had an amazing haute couture collection of bark cloth designs. We are a society accustomed to seeing ready to wear designs and people have a hard time understanding what designers like Atal and Xenson have to offer because their creations are more for show and those expecting to see clothes were indeed disappointed.

What Xenson did was create an experience or as he put it, “take us on a journey” – he opened his part of the show with the Past, this included creations from his start out showcases, when his main medium was the brown bark cloth. The dramatic designs were embellished with bamboo shoots, calabashes, and sisal.

The next phase, Urban Present, was most memorable for the simple fact that the audience could relate to it. The cool hooded denim designs were fused with a smattering of organic accents of tie and dye and kitenge. The huge handbags, made form recycled leather, car-tyre and paper were also a big hit especially those carried by the male models.

He closed the show with the Futuristic Past collection made from white bark cloth that opened with a strapless dress design with a spherical hemline.

The rest of the collection was just as amazing, showing a designer that is unafraid to stretch the imagination as he utilised different media and poets, skaters, hip hop and contemporary dancers, drummers…
became models.

The blend of the different media made for a fusion of beautiful music, conscious messages, dance, poem and of course fashion. And the end result was a show that left us wanting more.