Imole's Grey Journals - Cocktails With Claire

‎The event which was marked as the  "Cocktail with Claire" was held on the 21st of December at the Radisson Blu terraced poolside.

The beautiful panoramic view made for an even more magical scene with the nightlights and background music. Delicious cocktails and mocktails alongside tasty finger foods were however, not what made the night one to remember; but rather the visions and concept behind this beautiful night..

with David Prest

THE INITIATORS 

Dzrpt Media 

DZPRT media is an online media brand which is innovative, technological driven (I hear they have a whole team of whiz-kids who are definitely aimed at changing the pace and face of Nigerian creativity promotion from fashion, art to technology). And very dysfunctional- they are acclaimed to be sticklers for not following the rules, but running with creativity (no-holds-barred concept). The initiating project for them thus was the cocktails with Claire event.

David Prest, the young dynamic president of DZRPT‎ media (actually pronounced disrupt) is definitely one to look out for. He speaks of how Nigerian fashion designers who have shown great works and hold the promise of even greater works only get their fifteen minutes of fame. As either they get gratification from been spoken about by a top international media house; are featured in one of the top international fashion week; are worn by a top celebrity, but are eventually still relegated to the background when they deserve to be the new face of fashion. Pathetic fact, as these designers are meant to be permanently in the big leagues and maybe set on a close or greater pedestal as the likes of Chanel, Brionni and Salvatore Ferragamo. The DZRPT brand thus is exploring channels of promoting our local talents and thus creating an appreciation of Nigerian Arts on a lasting and enduring basis.

All smiles with kanayo Ebi

Kanayo Ebi

The New York based Nigerian fashion stylist and Image consultant grew up with fashion fanatic parents, thus she was definitely genetically structured to love fashion, albeit her's love definitely transcended to making a career out of a hobby. With her first styling gig being a last minute shoot for a friend, this beautiful diva has grown to style the likes of Kate Winslet and even has been known to style celebrities in Nigerian brands.

 Angela Simmons was spotted recently in a Tope FnR  piece styled by Kanayo. A firm believer in bringing it all home to her lovely country and key to Angela's visit two years ago. She was somewhat the catalyst in the coming together of DZRPT and Claire, thus being a factor in making this event happen. The DZRPT crew was in New York for the fashion week and wanted to shadow a celebrity to have a basic feel of the workings of the fashion week.

Kanayo suggested Claire Sulmers. She is one of the world's 100 most influential bloggers and also infamous for promoting fashion on a general basis, rather than just the usually-trending celebrities and afro-centric to say the least. Thus, the first of many great concepts to come was set in motion.

With Claire Sulmers!

Claire Sulmers

Popularly known for her blog, Fashionbombdaily founded in 2006. Claire has grown to be one of the most respected bloggers in the world. The ‎business savv‎y, beautiful, talented, intelligent- graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University is not only an influential African American blogger- definitely the most influential black blogger in the world but is also very nice and down to earth.

Great personality, beauty and definitely has charisma to boot, the star guest was all smiles, even though she had killer louboutin's on all night. Pleasantly ready to pose with any and everyone, she made the cocktail have a more relaxing atmosphere as she was easy to approach, taking time to answer as much questions as she could. Also, with the auspices of several amazing sponsors, the beautiful night on the terrace called "Cocktails with Claire" happened with several celebrities, designers and bloggers in attendance.

Definitely was a great night and I definitely hope we get to see more creative beautiful events like this and commend the DZRPT crew for a well executed evening. I look forward to their official launch and many more fabulous and even.