When you hear the name ‘Yemi Alade’ what comes to your mind? Her 2013 single Johnny, any other music of hers, or her love for Africa? I can’t tell what it is for you but I’ll tell you mine: It’s Yemi Alade’s fashion style and how she’s successfully infused it into her music.
This lady isn’t just a terrific singer. The Johnny crooner has an edgy sense of style that we can’t ignore. In fact, she’s one of the few African artistes who understand the power of fashion and never fails to use it to promote her culture.
You’ll agree with me Afrocentrism in music and fashion has become an integral part of Yemi Alade’s branding. Even a blind man can see it. It’s all out in the open for you to perceive.
If you doubt, listen to her sounds, watch her music videos, and pay close attention to all her outfits. You’ll see the sobriquet Mama Africa isn’t for fancy. She’s been living the name to the fullest with everything she does.
And we can’t see that and ignore it. We have to offer accolades to whom it’s due. That’s why we’ve chosen to eulogize Yemi Alade’s fashion style with this piece.
So, if you’ve been contemplating mirroring Yemi Alade’s style, this article will show you how to go about it.
Yemi Alade’s Fashion Style, the True Representation of Mama Africa
In one word, Yemi Alade’s style is Afrocentric.
She isn’t just a lover of Afrocentric fashion. She’s a lover of afro music and all its chords. If she isn’t singing in different African languages, she’s rocking African textiles with pride and complementing them with beautiful African hairdos.
Let me tell you one secret of mine.
When I first heard her song, Dancina, I thought it was by an East African artiste.
But when I watched the video, I could only gape at Yemi Alade’s awesomeness. Is it the African costumes, setting, and language? I was taken aback by how this stylish Nigerian musician keeps promoting African culture through her music and style. And now, it’s become a huge part of her identity.
She has proven to be as flexible as water— exuding a unique Afrocentric class while rocking African prints and the creations of African designers like Atafo, Lanre Da Silva, Xtra Bride, Weizd Hurm Franklyn, etc.
What makes her more standout is the fact that she doesn’t just wear dresses and end at that. She completes all her African-inspired looks with befitting coiffures and accessories.
In other words, Yemi not only rocks African fabrics. She wears African braids and readily flaunts our indigenous hairstyles such as Bantu knots, thread hairstyles, amongst others.
To prove this, she took to her Instagram account to declare:
“Whether on or off stage, my love for Africa and my pride in my heritage and culture is expressed daily in my fashion and style.
Ankara is my uniform and my natural hairstyles are my pride and crown!
These are the things I love and I will not change them.”
Yemi Alade
Furthermore, she’s never afraid to experiment with colors, prints, and avant-garde styles. She’s never a fan of regular little wonder she mixes prints, appliques, and proportions in all she wears.
Lesson to Learn from Yemi Alade’s Fashion Style
The next time you listen to Yemi Alade’s music, know for sure that it goes beyond that. For the Nigerian diva, and it’s more than the lyrics, beats, or costumes.
It’s a lifestyle expressed through fashion as a whole. And here are lessons you should pick from Yemi Alade’s style.
1. Show, Don’t Tell
This doesn’t apply to creative writing alone. It applies to every other thing you do.
How do you tell people you love your race when you don’t rep it everywhere you go. That’s a cue you should take from her.
Love your tribe? Own it by wearing your native wear. Love fashion? Show it by dressing well. Don’t just say you love or believe in a particular thing. Let your actions say the same too like Yemi Alade says she loves Africa with her music and personal style.
2. Carve an Identity for Yourself
Everybody knows the one and only Mama Africa. It’s her identity. And she carved it for herself through consistency.
She didn’t wear Ankara and other African prints for a year then switched back to Western clothes. Neither did she wear our indigenous hairstyles for a short time.
She still does all of that. This is what brand strategists preach: If you want people to perceive you in a particular way, keep putting that image in their faces for as long as you can.
So, the next time you hear a Nigerian sound with the artiste wearing Fulani braids adorned with beads, know for sure that it’s Mama Africa.
3. Own Your Identity
Yemi Alade could have easily backed down, you know. After all, westernization has taken over. We all rock ready-made clothes.
But she didn’t forget her mission of promoting African culture. She stuck to it and now, it’s won her fame and recognition.
The Johnny crooner has built an afrocentric brand around her music career. She owns it with every single, album or picture she drops. And even when she wears western-inspired attire, we still look beyond that to see the African queen that she is.
So, own your identity. It’s your ticket for standing out.
If you’d like to take cues from Yemi Alade’s fashion style, know for sure that you don’t have to spend much to go about it. Ankara fabrics are affordable. You only have to apply your style sense and pick the best combinations.
Apart from that, Yemi still dons ready-to-wear. Scroll down to see some of her chic looks.
